Mermaids 1990

Vincent Canby, New York Times: Miss Ryder is so good, in fact, that "Mermaids" might have dared to be a tougher, more satisfying movie than the stylish sitcom it is. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: There's something a little insulting about a contemporary movie that reduces women to either trashy bimbos or repressed virgins. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I found a lot of it preposterous, but I enjoyed that quality. Why do we look at movies? To learn lessons and see life reflected back at us? Sometimes. But sometimes we simply sit there in the dark, stupefied by the spectacle. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: Self-conscious, eccentric... Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: The delightful Ryder, billing notwithstanding, is really the star. Read more

Hal Hinson, Washington Post: Having made something of a specialty of woe-is-me, adolescent angst, Ryder finds a deeper level here, a level of comedy with something genuinely painful mixed in. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: It's awash in mediocrity, waterlogged with innocuousness and redeemed only occasionally by sweet-faced Ryder. Read more