At Middleton 2013

Sara Stewart, New York Post: None of this is particularly innovative, although Garcia and the elder Farmiga develop a nice spark and a gentle humor in their characters' stolen day together. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The movie loses some of its focus and turns both silly and implausible. Still, the stars' chemistry works, and so does At Middleton. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Pity. A different film might have made better use of Farmiga's breezy warmth and Garcia's velvety charm. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Often plays like a forgotten trifle from the Golden Age of Hollywood studio filmmaking, distinguished more by its competence and affable performances than by any formal or thematic potency. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: An almost completely inauthentic little romance that is so genuinely pleasant you'll enjoy it anyway. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "At Middleton" is formulaic and contrived. It's also worth seeing because it breathes a little, and because Vera Farmiga and Andy Garcia know what they're doing as they guide this appealingly simple brief encounter of a romance. Read more

Stephen Farber, Hollywood Reporter: Modern-day Brief Encounter benefits from sparkling dialogue and splendid acting. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Garcia and Farmiga have such an easy, natural chemistry that their on-screen sparkle helps mitigate the film's weaknesses. At others times, it serves to underscore what might have been. It's a feckless conundrum. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Both Garcia and Farmiga dive head-on into raging rapids of doubt, pain and recrimination. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Though it's fun to watch Garcia let out his inner goofball, the jewels in the crown of At Middleton are the dynamic sisters Farmiga. Read more

Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: A bittersweet portrait of two people, who, in the process of helping their children choose a college, confront the emptiness of their respective marriages. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: The actors push too hard to flesh out this whimsical, cliched blend of campus comedy and midlife rom-com. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's a lovely film that grows along with the characters. At first, it seems like a pleasing but inconsequential comedy. But it deepens as their connection deepens and opens up into a place of poignancy and insight. Read more

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: Some truths about George and Edith's underlying emotional state come out in an unconventional and interesting way, but it's not enough to make us care about the attraction that is drawing them closer. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: As pleasing as it is to watch these actors at work, they aren't able to elevate the lightweight script behind this classic stolen-moments romance that seems more suited to TV than the big screen. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Gives a hell of a first impression, but the deeper we delve into the screenplay, the more obvious it becomes that there's not much going on under the surface. Read more

Michael Nordine, Village Voice: What starts out mildly charming is mostly tiresome by the time they start doing bong rips in a random student's dorm room. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: At Middleton is a modest movie with modest aims, but at times it feels like a small miracle. Read more