A Home at the End of the World 2004

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: [Cunningham] has preserved his book's romantic, idealistic integrity, as well as its acknowledgment of the role music played in forming a generation. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: It may sound like grade-A melodrama, but A Home at the End of the World turns out to be much more ambitious -- and, unfortunately, less interesting. Read more

Sid Smith, Chicago Tribune: Vital nuances are lost, and what's left, despite good intentions and some redeeming qualities, is cloying sentimentality wrenched from dated material. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Never less than watchable and often quite moving, especially when Colin Farrell (as Bobby) or Sissy Spacek (Alice) are on screen. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The problem is not just that Bobby is hard to believe but that he's not interesting enough to make us want to believe him. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: ... everything about this movie was so contrived and it feels so written. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Flawed but sincere -- the sort of thoughtful, adult movie that rarely appears in the summer. Read more

Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: Although the actors do a magnificent job with the piffle, the characters hardly ever act the way real people do in the situations they are presented with. They act, instead, the way characters in a movie act. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Roberts, Farrell, and Penn don't appear to be in the least bit self-consumed; you really believe they're thinking about each other. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: An emotional wipeout, the effect of which may well prove indelible, much like the films of James Dean. Read more

Houston Chronicle: Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Most of the movie feels like Farrell's performance: deeply sincere, and more showy than convincing. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: The problem here isn't exactly a descent into sentimentality; instead, it's more like a surfeit of niceness, the relentless kind that leaves no room for emotion, even cheap emotion. Read more

Jane Sumner, Dallas Morning News: The best reasons [to see it] have to be the subtle, nuanced performances of Mr. Farrell, newcomer Dallas Roberts, a never-better Robin Wright Penn and the endearing evergreen Pride of Quitman, Texas, Sissy Spacek. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: The jarring and crucially weak link is Farrell, a talented actor woefully miscast and comically uncomfortable here. Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: A resonant chamber piece for its talented actors. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: Casting is everything in a film like this, and in the major roles, Mayer scores two out of three. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: It is at once too fast, too slow and rarely engaging on a gut level. Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: Features strong performances from Colin Farrell as bi-guy Bobby, Robin Wright Penn as hetero Clare and Dallas Roberts as gay Jonathan. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Lyrical, sweet-natured, touching, sexy and very funny, A Home at the End of the World is also beautifully served by an exemplary cast. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: So thoroughly decent in its intentions and so tactful in its methods that people are likely to persuade themselves that it's better than it is, which is not very good. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: Despite some very good acting in most roles, the people on the screen seem like types with labels. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Farrell is astonishing in the movie, not least because the character is such a departure from everything he has done before. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: We never fully know what those characters are thinking or feeling. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: We give the filmmakers a lot of credit for reaching out of their comfort zone, even if they reached a bit too far. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: Sincere, heartfelt and mostly hopeless, A Home At The End Of The World is a well-intentioned wetnap of a movie about the re-configured post-nuclear family. Read more

Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: An intriguing look at an unconventional definition of family, whose members don't speak in Hollywood cliches. Read more

Jorge Morales, Village Voice: In the book, the strong-but-silent Bobby's interior monologues gave him a semblance of an inner life, but Cunningham's Cliff's Notes adaptation shrinks the character to a monosyllabic man-child with a puppy-dog stare. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: What keeps the movie going, far longer than the screenplay deserves, are fine performances all around. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: An adaptation of another Cunningham book that, like The Hours, comes with its own set of challenges, which director Michael Mayer handles forthrightly, with precise emotional pitch. Read more