Comet 2014

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Watching a not-very-interesting couple break up is one thing; watching them break up and get back together numerous times in different universes and dimensions is, well ... to paraphrase "Jaws," I'm going to need a bigger popcorn bag. Read more

Geoff Berkshire, Variety: Flashes of promise can't save Comet, an ambitious indie misfire that adopts a playful time-jumping chronology in order to chart five key turning points in a six-year relationship. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Justin Long is a fine actor, but you have to like him a lot to get through "Comet," Sam Esmail's trippy, overly mannered romance. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Although there's talent on display in all aspects of this time-jumping, visually distinctive independent... Esmail strenuously overplays his hand with the torrent of obnoxious dialogue he asks his male lead to deliver. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: Its conceits ... get in the way of its characters, making it feel fussy and convoluted when it aims for something more simple and elegant. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The actors give their all, and Esmail's got an interesting directorial approach. But his own misguided script continually pulls this starry-eyed project down. Read more

David DeWitt, New York Times: These occasionally obnoxious, certainly neurotic young lovers have beating, sometimes broken hearts, and that, as the apostle Paul once noted, tends to trump all. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: Just when you think you're about to fall for this fuzzy sci-fi romance, it disappears into its own navel. Read more

Chuck Wilson, Village Voice: Esmail frames his lovers against landscapes that are richly textured and swooningly romantic, but they prove unworthy of the fuss. Read more