Metacritic Movie Ratings
Being Flynn Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 80

  out of 100

  Variety

  The film surrounds its leads with a cast whose faces capture the ragtag dignity Flynn described in his book -- no overacting required, no emotional panhandling allowed.

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• 80

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy

  Robert De Niro and writer-director Paul Weitz find the most congenial material either of them has had in quite some time in Being Flynn.

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• 75

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  What's admirable about Being Flynn is that it doesn't cave in to the standard Hollywood redemption formulas, with the father redeemed and the son inspired. It's more complicated than that.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Village Voice

  What the actors are unable to get across emotionally (which is a lot - Dano and De Niro, both of them all big actorly tics, often seem like they were filmed in different rooms), Weitz hammers home via near-constant music.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  There is honest feeling, genuine humanity and real intelligence in this movie, but there is also a sense of caution, of indecisiveness, that undermines its potential power. Being Flynn is an honorably ambivalent film, finally unsure of what to do with the two strong, complicated characters at its center.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey

  Paul Weitz has dialed things down considerably for Being Flynn, writing and directing with an earnest sensitivity that at times suits, at times undermines, the complexities of the story at hand.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman

  Is it possible for an actor to go through the motions even as he's going over the top? In Being Flynn, Robert De Niro does phoned-in scenery chewing.

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• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  Robert De Niro has made several unwise choices in roles recently, and his belligerent wannabe writer in Being Flynn definitely adds to that list.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern

  The movie's emotional content was manifest as an absence. What stayed with me most memorably was the father's insufferable bombast and the son's sad passivity.

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