All Is Bright 2013

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The film has an accomplished mood of cantankerous despair, but it's still little more than downbeat fluff. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: With its affection for downscale characters who dart in and out of the men's lives, "All Is Bright" has an openheartedness reminiscent of a Preston Sturges film. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Worth enduring only for a rare lead performance by Paul Giamatti, whose expert delineation of rage and frustration lends form to Morrison's otherwise shapeless script. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Does anybody connected with this cinematic Valium know what they're supposed to be doing? The alleged "comedy" is too lame to make you laugh, and the poignancy is nonexistent. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: This engaging if somewhat underwhelming tale of unlikely redemption builds a funny-sad web of intersecting interactions around its strong central perfs. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: Giamatti merely offers another variation on the irascible persona he's been cultivating since Sideways, while Rudd is ultimately defeated by his character's shapelessness. Read more

J. Hoberman, ARTINFO.com: You might think you can see where Almost Christmas is heading but it never quite loses its acerbic edge or goes emotionally blooey. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: I almost recommend seeing "Almost Christmas." Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: The film is happy to observe wryly as boredom and failure threaten to overwhelm the men. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: In its own strange way, "All Is Bright" pulls you in even as it frustrates. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: "All Is Bright" isn't - and was never meant to be - a major cinematic gift to audiences. But as a little stocking stuffer, and nostalgic recollection of how movies used to be, it often has its own small and quite welcome delights. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: [Its] flaws pretty much disappear against the powerful and pervasive mood of working-class sadness, and the sense that the holiday season for grown-ups is almost always about loss and sacrifice. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The cinematic equivalent of a half-baked fruitcake. Read more

Nick Schager, Village Voice: A holiday tale that sabotages its seriousness with humor that's both dire and out of place. Read more