Obvious Child 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Whatever talent or care Robespierre has goes into guiding the actors toward real gentleness, including Slate, who spends the movie with big, untamed hair. Her affect is brazenly ungroomed. Read more

Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly: Despite a few too-cute moments, the movie is both smarter and more sympathetic than that glib shorthand. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Simply a bad rom-com. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: The heart of the film lies in what it manages to say, without boldface or italics, about how hard it is for Donna, like so many of her anxious cohort, to make genuine connections, to break free of narcissistic constraints and become a stand-up grown-up. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Obvious Child" enters territory rarely trod by romantic comedies - it's clear Donna's in no way ready to have a child - and does so with warmth and wit. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Robespierre's direction of the many fine actors she assembled is assured, her sense of pacing nicely loose-limbed. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Jenny Slate shines in a romantic comedy that dares to consider the subject of abortion suitable for date-night crowds. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: If nothing else, Obvious Child proves that rom-com conventions require no apologies, at least when they're invested with honesty and sharp humor. Also, a few fart jokes never hurt. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: It's a well-written rom-com with rascally charm, a modest story of an awkward Brooklyn girl making a go of life. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Obvious Child" is being promoted as a groundbreaking topical comedy about abortion. But it's less than that. And more. And, basically, not. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The heroine can't seem to come up with any material that doesn't involve bodily functions; she never goes near the subject of motherhood, which proves that the filmmakers are scared to death of their own story. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Moment to moment, you believe what's happening in Robespierre's film, which is funny and rueful in roughly equal measure without being despairing in the slightest. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A foul-mouthed comedy with an immature heroine has treated a thorny issue with remarkable candor. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Slate is adept with biting remarks and self-deprecation, and she balances Donna somewhere between flightiness and innocence. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Raunchy humor laced with gradually revealed vulnerability makes for a winning combination in Obvious Child, a wildly funny and appealing female-centric comedy that launches very promising talent on both sides of the camera. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Life is awkward, emotions are unfiltered, it all unfolds with a raw, R-rated edge. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Slate fits the role so well that her persona already seems fully formed, like Athena bursting from the skull of Louis C.K. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Virtue and vulgarity fight to a draw via a film that should put the vivacious Jenny Slate and director Gillian Robespierre on everyone's indie radar. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: Obvious is the word. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's a small, modest film that doesn't act like it's groundbreaking. But it is. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Laughter may be the best medicine, but in "Obvious Child," it's also a helluva cure for dealing with a serious topic. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: It's both funny and serious without trying too hard to be either, and by trying above all to be honest. Read more

Michael Sragow, Orange County Register: Maturity -- what a concept! That's the humorous, self-lacerating notion at the core of Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: A cross between a Woody Allen farce and a one-woman show by Sarah Silverman. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Obvious Child is a romcom with a sting in its tail. And Slate is a dynamo, nailing every laugh while showing a true actor's gift for nuance. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: For many women who see it - and quite a few men too - it will instantly become a landmark moment in cultural history. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The movie doesn't present itself as some kind of secular equivalent of a moral lesson. It's not callous or weepy or preachy - or self-consciously not those things. It's a naturally told story. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: There's something old-Hollywood about Slate's dizzy-dame charm, and at the same time, something very modern about her unapologetic ownership of her own sexuality. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What it lacks is dramatic interest. There's no zing in it. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Sorry, partisans, but there's nothing obvious about "Obvious Child." Read more

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: Slate is too pretty a face and Robespierre is too limited a writer for Obvious Child to rise above conventional romantic plotting or to make its low comedy meaningfully transgressive. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: Robespierre and company deserve high praise for tackling a story with such a difficult subject at its heart, with a combination of grace, humour and courage. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The only agenda that Obvious Child has is to be true and funny, and it succeeds impressively at both. Read more

Tomris Laffly, Time Out: Despite its controversial topic, it manages to be desperately romantic-maybe the biggest shock of all. Read more

Scott Bowles, USA Today: A dark romantic comedy that has plenty of the first, a little of the second and none of third. Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: The beauty of Obvious Child is that there's nothing obvious about it. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: A movie that feels risky and forgiving and, despite its traditional rom-com contours, refreshingly new. Read more