Puccini for Beginners 2006

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: A sharp-witted romantic comedy that takes the old Woody Allen screwball style and mood and amusingly applies them to a story about tangled gay and straight relationships in modern Manhattan. Read more

Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader: Fresh Manhattan locations prove as photogenic as the leads, and the supporting actors -- especially Tina Benko as a glacial, impeccably dressed amazon -- don't miss a beat of Maggenti's snappy dialogue. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Has a likable smartness to it; like a good Woody Allen film with a gay twist. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The movie offers a charming view of a small-town Manhattan where strangers constantly give Allegra romantic advice. Though that device is a little too indebted to Woody Allen, at least Maggenti does Allen a lot better than Ed Burns. Read more

Noel Murray, AV Club: [Director] Maggenti is getting better at building characters with distinctive quirks and nuance, but when they open their mouths, they still talk like they're in a movie. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If Woody Allen were a young, attractive gay woman, he might make something like this, or so Maggenti hopes. But it would probably be funnier, and it would definitely cut deeper. Read more

Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times: The filmmaker's niftiest trick is in making a group of neurotic, self-involved, overly verbal people so engaging. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Puccini for Beginners doesn't quite make it as romantic comedy. Most of the elements are in place, but the characters seem too narcissistic to fall in love and too broad-brush to be authentic. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Reaser really doesn't stand a chance. She's plucky as heck, and you like her despite the script, but she can't save the movie. Read more

Entertainment Weekly: Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: There is pleasure and even insight to be had in Puccini but it all feels second-hand, and therefore, of questionable provenance. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: A hardworking screwball comedy that plays like a warmed-over Woody Allen fluffernutter. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: For fans desperate for a funny new romantic comedy, and willing to expand their definitions of just what a date movie might entail, Puccini for Beginners offers a good 101 introduction to the genre. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Writer-director Maggenti turns in some smart dialogue and keeps things moving swiftly. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Puccini for Beginners is littered with witty dialogue, although some of it is so obviously scripted that it can become off-putting. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Rarely have I seen a film simultaneously so good and so bad. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: There's a drag on this film, and that's the character of the protagonist, Allegra. She's just not a nice person, which could have been OK, except it seems as though she's supposed to be. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: [Director] Maggenti offers a cute variation on the classic Hollywood 'comedy of remarriage.' Read more

Melissa Anderson, Time Out: Sexual identities and attractions may blur, but the rules of romantic comedies must be strictly followed. Read more

David Rooney, Variety: Writer-director Maggenti knows her way around snappy, sophisticated dialogue. Read more

Ed Gonzalez, Village Voice: A Woody Allen devotee, writer-director Maria Maggenti hawks an insular view of New York City where poverty doesn't exist to illuminate the grotesque solipsism of her characters. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: It's no fun to sit through the movie's retread Woody Allenisms, including postmodern repartee among the self-absorbed or giddily neurotic and passing strangers suddenly given to ironic Greek chorus-like commentary. Read more