For a Good Time, Call... 2012

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ... not just smart and sexy -- which, to be honest, is rare enough in filmmaking these days -- but it's also got a great deal of humanity and humor. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: [It] doesn't aspire to be more than a broad, sloppy, old-fashioned sitcom with a sexy gimmick. But it is quite funny, and at the screening I attended, the loudest laughs came from young women in the audience. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: It feels like a movie you've seen already - and it was better the first time around. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: While the perky vulgarity is sometimes overwhelming, For A Good Time scores points by treating sex frankly, with playful mock coyness or none at all. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: The notion of a love story that's really about two women becoming friends is gimmicky, I'll grant, but Graynor and Miller are so charming together... Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: This hot-pink and leopard-print take on a familiar formula is so energetic and self-assured that it powers past its predictability. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: When it tires of the familiar setup and character dynamic, it delivers a minor surprise that makes both these women more interesting and complicated than they were a scene ago. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Travis keeps things moving so briskly, you find yourself not minding how by-the-numbers the story is. And then within that by-the-numbers story, there end up being enough surprises and subversive twists that you find yourself unexpectedly charmed. Read more

Drew Hunt, Chicago Reader: Unfortunately Travis lacks the comedic skill and humanistic insight to make this anything more than Judd Apatow lite. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Is it one for the ages? No. Is it a good time? Good enough. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: It's Ari Graynor's movie - she's like Kate Hudson possessed by the spirit of Bette Midler. And all the better off for it. Read more

Amanda Mae Meyncke, Film.com: A fun, healthy, sexy comedy that pulls no punches and focuses on a realistic female friendship and the powerful dynamic that sexuality plays in our lives. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Female buddy comedy makes the most of its phone-sex premise. Read more

Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times: It's a showcase for writing that doesn't dazzle and a story of self-discovery that reveals no new insights. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: For a good time, don't. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Unfortunately nothing here is very good. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: Have we really come a long way from chick flicks about women expressing friendship by nursing each other though divorce, cancer and other common losses, to movies in which women can only express love through a windy haze of carnal chatter? Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: The most adorably filthy movie you may ever see, "For a Good Time, Call..." marks a promising feature debut for acclaimed short-film director Jamie Travis and writers Katie Anne Naylon and Lauren Miller. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Travis, making his feature debut, gets very likable performances out of his female stars. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: The film (a) is not recommended for the prudish and (b) does not live up to its title. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The film is worth seeing for the humor and for its high level of energy, but it falls short of being the "complete package." Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I'm not objecting to the movie on grounds of taste but because it is stupid, vulgar, crass and mercilessly formulaic. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: In a rare instance of truth in advertising, this movie actually is a good time. Read more

Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: Adheres to those familiar, looping patterns of joy, rancor and revelation that everyone, in the age of Final Draft, have come to expect of a standard comic screenplay. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: It's the movie's affectionate portrait of female friendship, along with Miller and Graynor's loose, playful performances, that make this whole imperfect souffle rise as high as it does. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The film is a wobbly attempt to follow in the stilettos of "Bridesmaids," but its tissue-sharp punch lines and undernourished characters fall woefully short. Read more

Geoff Pevere, Globe and Mail: Boasts almost the same degree of intellectual heft, moral nuance and philosophical rigour as a sitcom. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: [A] witty comic romp that isn't afraid to show its heart along with its naughty bits. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Just like the erotic fantasies that the film's leads peddle, you don't have to buy into the central conceit to enjoy yourself. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: Watching [Travis] add his kitschy touch to such a witless, faux-edgy movie can only be described as a Travis-ty. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: Despite some earnest laughs and a sincere heart, Call can't seem to rise above its TV sitcom styling. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: For a Good Time, Call... doesn't rise much above sitcom level in material or execution, but provides enough laughs and goodwill to be disarmingly entertaining. Read more

Chris Packham, Village Voice: After establishing a sort of Odd Couple-ish character dynamic, the script cleverly subverts it. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The confusion in For a Good Time, Call... is delightful, the phone-sex talk sweetening the vibe. Read more

Jess Righthand, Washington Post: Could a genuinely good, or genuinely funny, movie ever be made about two girls who operate a phone-sex line? Read more