Management 2009

Critics score:
46 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Ben Lyons, At the Movies: Zahn is essentially stalking Aniston and it's really just downright creepy. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Padding disguised as a feature-length screenplay. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: [Steve Zahn] is the single biggest reason why Management is a delightfully screwball romantic comedy and not a crazed-stalker film. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: This quirky indie romance is beguiling at first but later succumbs to artifice. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The plot is too sprawling for the structure. That's often the way with debut films: so many notions, so little time. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: You watch Management thinking of the comedy Aniston and Zahn could have made, and wishing you were watching that movie instead. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: A film that flaunts its contempt for plausibility and psychological realism, but damned if Zahn doesn't almost sell the scene and the movie with his naive, wide-eyed slacker charm. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Sometimes a cute-stalker movie can win the audience's heart. Management only makes you ponder the line between true love and a restraining order. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Though it doesn't always work, it's an idea with its heart in the right place and, paired with nonshock comedy, it's a nice change of pace. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Sometimes a movie thinks it's one thing (charming) when it's really something else (creepy). Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Management has two things going for it: Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston. Luckily, those are two very good things. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: An indie dud. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Zahn specializes in playing overgrown children. His face is both old and young--he must have looked the same at 9 as he will at 90 Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Management isn't even a good stalker-training film. It's pretty much a waste of everyone's time, especially yours. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: It's a handful of ostensibly quirky ideas glued together by irritatingly conventional devices. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A large part of Management's charm, [is that] it wanders through some fresh locations (Maryland, Arizona and Washington), takes some offbeat detours and just generally refuses to be predictable. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: But if there's a point to be made here, it's that persistence pays off, whether you're onscreen or in the audience. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The film is a failure if it can't convince us that these two people belong together. It can't, and barely tries. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: In this Springtime of our Discontent, Management offers a bit of sunny but not entirely silly escapism. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A likably oddball romantic comedy about a traveling saleswoman and a motel night manager who won't leave her alone. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Poor scriptwriting decisions and a failure to advance the romance in a gradual, credible fashion doom whatever chances this could have had to enrapture audiences. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Management works as a sweet rom-com with some fairly big laughs. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Playwright Stephen Belber, in his directing debut, comes close to the sweet spot. He's not there yet. But he'll be worth watching next time. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Management is ultimately undone by its own bland idiosyncrasies. It's nothing but a mismanaged opportunity. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Management is just an average movie, but Aniston's performance is a very lovely thing. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Despite the essential implausibility of the story, Management remains for the most part as endearing as its leads. Read more

Troy Melhus, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Random weirdness aside, Belber telegraphs this story arc from Sue's first drop-in to Podunk. Message received. No surprises here. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: The trademark hitch in Aniston's line delivery is an effective shorthand for taking a leap of faith. In the case of both her character and her career, Management represents an admirable choice. Read more

Hank Sartin, Time Out: Read more

Tom Huddlestone, Time Out: There's more to Stephen Belber's debut than just manufactured whimsy, not least a wise and witty script, and some beautifully sketched side characters supporting two reliably charming leads. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Though the flimsy romance follows a predictable path, Management has its whimsically offbeat moments, and Zahn is puppy-dog adorable. Read more

Joe Leydon, Variety: Neatly mixing whimsical quirkiness, straight-faced absurdity and affecting melancholy, Management is a slight but likable dramedy. Read more