Baggage Claim 2013

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Paula Patton is one of those actresses who seem to light up the screen whenever they appear, but even her considerable charms can't quite make Baggage Claim tolerable. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: Predictability and cliches get in the way of comedy here, especially with a lead character who rarely comes across as more than blandly sweet. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Nothing in this movie would actually happen, so what's irritating is that it presents itself as a savvy, "Am I right, ladies?" dating commentary. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: [A] cliched romantic comedy by writer-director David E. Talbert. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Talbert has clearly studied what makes similar films click, but instead of finding a fresh spin on old cliches, he merely repeats them. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: Patton, who excels at projecting confidence and cool, can't seem to get a handle on the movie's insecure heroine, and overcompensates with broadly cartoonish gestures and facial contortions. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Takes the bold position that women aren't truly fulfilled unless they're on the arm of a good husband, a notion that's been ridiculous since cavemen stopped dragging women around by the hair. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Convoluted, predictable, and mostly unfunny ... Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Man, "Baggage Claim" is terrible. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Baggage Claim is almost masochistically cheesy, with zero surprise. But Patton glides through it like Jennifer Aniston with a touch of Audrey Hepburn. Read more

Laremy Legel, Film.com: There's little chance of finding realism or romance, but the laughs are there. Read more

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Patton is best at contagious bliss. She might be the best at it. When she smiles, you smile. You want her to have what she wants even when how she wants it is stupid. Read more

Sheri Linden, Hollywood Reporter: Centering on a desperate-to-wed flight attendant, this rom-com gets little mileage from its harebrained premise. Read more

Annlee Ellingson, Los Angeles Times: For a chick flick that meets the first two criteria of the Bechdel Test (it has at least two women who talk to each other), "Baggage Claim" fails the third (about something besides a man) big time. Read more

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: A shrill, embarrassing comedy that insults the female audience for which it is intended. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: A painfully predictable romance, and a terribly unfunny comedy. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The results are so forgettable - and, yes, fake - it hardly seems worth the effort required to criticize them. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: "Baggage Claim" is so archaic in its depiction of feminine self-worth-and, frankly, so insulting-it's amazing that it's coming out in 2013, not 1963. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: A romantic comedy so light and brainless you almost expect it to float away. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Benign but hopelessly dumb, "Baggage Claim" tries to spin the staples of romantic comedy into a mad tea party (its perfect suitor is named Mr. Wright), but lacks the energy and edge. Read more

Kevin C. Johnson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Paula Patton puts on the well-worn shoes of Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts, ending up with a predictable vehicle perhaps best left in lost and found. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Baggage Claim is the lost luggage of rom-coms. Read more

Todd Gilchrist, TheWrap: Painfully unfunny and entirely unromantic, "Baggage Claim" offers a woefully outdated look at the challenges of finding true love, boosted from mediocrity only occasionally by a handful of supporting performances. Read more

Jenna Scherer, Time Out: Talbert's directing is on par with a prescription-drug commercial ... Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: It would have worked better if the silly premise had been played for farcical satire, rather than following the cookie-cutter rules of the romantic comedy playbook. Read more

Ernest Hardy, Village Voice: Enough to make Black Jesus weep in despair at the failure of filmmaking fundamentals. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Glossy, flossy and blithely secure in its own cheerfully fake worldview, "Baggage Claim" bypasses the intellect entirely, happy to satisfy on a silly, screwball, wish-fulfillment level. Read more