Drinking Buddies 2013

Christy Lemire, ChristyLemire.com: Drinking Buddies is a crackling screwball comedy refracted through a low-key, mumblecore prism. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Mr. Swanberg's camera weaves through bodies at rest, at work and at the bar in no particular hurry, and his script captures the idioms of men and women who are equally inclined to waste words and to say very little. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Drinking Buddies" sneaks up on you; you think it's going in one direction, and suddenly it goes somewhere much more interesting. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: It's not that the insights into how Swanberg's generation lives today are any more profound (they're not), but it's encouraging to see what professional actors, a musical score and a modicum of technique can do to spruce up this observational comedy. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, AV Club: The entire film unfolds in a recognizable register of ominous hesitation; the results are a bit schematic but nevertheless hit on something real. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Swanberg doesn't exactly reinvent the romantic-comedy formula, but he explores it in unexpected ways, with a terrific cast making the relationships all the more genuine and enjoyable. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: [Swanberg] points the movie in directions that defy our expectations, exploring the characters' immaturity and the entropy of human interaction. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "Drinking Buddies" has a cleaner structure than Swanberg's earlier wanderings, but after several projects I still don't know what compels him as a filmmaker ... Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The actors all blend terrifically, making this the film equivalent of great hang time. Read more

William Goss, Film.com: Swanberg gets to the heart of the matters of the heart with disarming doses of both charm and wisdom. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: An appealing cast and fine-tuned sexual tension bolster Swanberg's latest. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: Swanberg achieves an occasionally heady aura of improvisational flirtatiousness mixed with a churning will-they-or-won't-they suspense. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The movie has a keen eye for the ways in which we sometimes resign ourselves to less-than-satisfying lives. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: This brisk and exuberant comedy, directed by Joe Swanberg, is powered by a strong current of romantic melancholy. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: It feels mumblecore-ishly vague and rambling in its construction, like Hannah Takes the Stairs without the raffish charm. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: We laugh with these people not because they're absurd, but because they're so normal. Swanberg's made the rare film that feels exactly the way your friends do when they don't know you're watching them. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: There's more plot, and scripted dialogue, here than in Swanberg's earlier, mumblecore work. But authenticity still comes first. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Drinking Buddies walks a fine line between the mundane and the meaningful, but the actors walking it are top-notch. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: This is a special movie. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Here's a toast to the cast and crew: "Drinking Buddies" is a three-dimensional movie that doesn't require beer goggles. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: Not much happens in Drinking Buddies, which, frankly, is refreshing. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: A meandering, unfocused kind-of love story among 20 and 30-somethings that grates as much as it pleases. Read more

Catherine Bray, Time Out: The film's quartet of post-slackers are captured as they feel their way around the edges of what they want (and are afraid to ask for) with painful accuracy. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The stars sell the cutesiness, and the rawness-equals-real go-nowhereness that seemingly infects every conversation in a microbudget indie, with equal professionalism and vigor; if they can't stick the landing in the end, it's because no one could. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Director Joe Swanberg and a terrific ensemble cast imbue a simple story with authenticity and shambling charm. Read more

Zachary Wigon, Village Voice: Swanberg's careful eye perceives the nuances of those conflicts with greater perspicacity than ever before; never have his tiny moments of truth felt so honest or clear. Read more