Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
58
(29 sources)
58
(29 sources)
-
80
Salon.com
All the acting in it is flawless, an overflowing handful of polished jewels. Read Full Review » -
80
Dallas Observer
This is not the easiest film in the world to untangle, but our attentions are soon rewarded. Read Full Review » -
80
Variety
A genuine and tangible fondness and respect for the characters and their eccentricities. Read Full Review » -
80
The New York Times
With the help of an ensemble that is nearly flawless, she (Troche) assembles the damaged human elements of Ms. Homes's world with patience and precision, and more often than not chooses dry understatement over easy satire or obvious sentiment. Read Full Review » -
78
Austin Chronicle
The terrific ensemble acting and Troche’s genuine, nonjudgmental interest in exploring the weird places wounded people go, both internally and externally, amount to an insulated but moving portrait of the real nuclear family. Read Full Review » -
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Eloquently adapted from the collection of A.M. Homes stories of the same title, Troche's film derives its voltage from the way it burrows to find that the connections within -- and among -- families are very much alive. Read Full Review » -
75
New York Daily News
Troche is most interested in exploring the secret lives hidden inside freshly painted Colonials, and what she finds is that everyone's secret is exactly the same: a crushing inability to connect with the people closest to them. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Tribune
Presented with such confidence, such care, that we love all of the characters, even if we don't like them. Read Full Review » -
75
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70
Los Angeles Times
For all of Troche's skill and talent, The Safety of Objects (a splendid title) nevertheless tries to cover too much territory. In movies, as elsewhere, a little less sometimes can add up to a lot more. Read Full Review » -
70
LA Weekly
A couple of unexpected revelations in the final act pack an emotional wallop that shifts the film (shot in clean, uncluttered takes) into the realm of old-fashioned tearjerker, but the tears are wholly earned. Read Full Review » -
67
Portland Oregonian
The film paints a by now familiar picture of suburbia as a pit of dysfunction, though some nice dark-humored moments and generally fine performances make up for a lot. Read Full Review » -
67
Entertainment Weekly
The disciplined performances play against schmaltz, and the casting is inspired. Read Full Review » -
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
It's a movie located in an interesting place, but without quite enough self-confidence really to inhabit it. Read Full Review » -
63
Miami Herald
The Safety of Objects doesn't carry the power of Ang Lee's "The Ice Storm," a similarly themed work about WASPS in crisis. Objects is too artificial, clunky with too many preposterous situations. Read Full Review » -
63
ReelViews
Not a complete waste of time, but it doesn't make us FEEL the way better dramas do, and, in the end, it lacks the qualities that would make it memorable or powerful. Read Full Review » -
63
Boston Globe
The film leaves you dissatisfied, as though you'd just spent two hours with a menagerie of plastic white people. Read Full Review » -
60
The New Republic
The result is not a quilt, just a succession of story snippets that keep interrupting one another. Read Full Review » -
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Outside of its star power, it reeks of indie film and doesn't hold much mainstream steam. Read Full Review » -
50
New York Post
Although deft editing provides neat segues, "Safety" suffers from a case of too many dramas, too little time. Characters are given no chance to develop and, too often, their behavior turns on a dime, hurtling off into a parallel universe of extreme acts. Read Full Review » -
50
Chicago Sun-Times
Troche's tone is so relentlessly, depressingly monotonous that the characters seem trapped in a narrow emotional range. They live out their miserable lives in one lachrymose sequence after another, and for us there is no relief. Read Full Review » -
50
TV Guide
Troche has bitten off quite a bit here, and it's too much for her to chew properly. Read Full Review » -
50
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50
Christian Science Monitor
The overall effect is imaginative but overambitious, though Troche unquestionably has cinematic talent. Read Full Review » -
40
Washington Post
Although it has moments of charm and poignancy -- this is one of Glenn Close's best hours -- the scheme and scope of the movie are just too darned obvious. Read Full Review » -
40
Village Voice
Though agile edits keep things moving, in braiding several tales into one tight suburban tangle, character development takes more shortcuts than "Short Cuts." Read Full Review » -
38
Baltimore Sun
The Safety of Objects is just another stilted comic-dramatic essay examining the mold in the white bread. Read Full Review » -
30
Washington Post
None of them is nasty enough to be interesting, nor nice enough to be sympathetic. Read Full Review » -
25
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