The D Train 2015

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "The D Train" is a good-humored, warm-hearted movie in which Black, as usual, excels. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: So many t's are uncrossed and i's undotted that the movie is a mess. Still, I was fascinated by what it might have been. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: Edgy and soft, audacious and coy, a largely enjoyable letdown. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: It's a mess, but it's a commendable mess. Bonus points for ambition and nerve. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: The film goes off the beaten path to tell a very familiar story in an unfamiliar way, turning the mismatched buddy dynamic Black and Marsden had developed into something much more complicated and interesting. Read more

Tom Russo, Boston Globe: Any real resonance gets swallowed up by a story that's excruciatingly uncomfortable rather than genuinely funny. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: For a vulgar American comedy, this is refreshingly low-key and generous. I admired its intentions without finding it all that funny. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: A cringe-filled comic rumination on the cost of being cool, "The D Train" starts out as straight silliness and then turns to more aching matters. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: Some may buy it, but from several perspectives what takes place simply seems beyond the pale dramatically; it's hard to believe things would go as far as they do. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: A recognizably delusional schlub sits at the center of the loser comedy "The D Train," thanks to the sad-sack acumen of Jack Black. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The movie flirts with a great darkness about disillusionment and self-loathing even as it races around spinning comedic plates. Too bad the filmmakers lose their nerve by film's end. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: "The D Train" may be a scant and rather unconvincing comedy, but it deserves credit for taking a risk. Read more

Richard Brody, New Yorker: [A] queasy, schematic, wanly sentimental comedy ... Read more

Mark Jenkins, NPR: The filmmakers proceed as if they're making a conventional high-school comedy, papering over the holes in the script with pop songs. Read more

Katherine Pushkar, New York Daily News: Black's narcissistic, obsessive, stunted Dan is so careless about all his relationships - with his wife, son, boss - that you wonder how he ever had them in the first place. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: For long stretches, "The D Train" serves as a commodious vehicle for Mr. Black, who, like the best comic performers, never seems remotely concerned about going too big or risking the audience's love. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, making their directorial debut, manage the difficult task of keeping the audience engaged even though both of the main characters are unlikable. Read more

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: Nothing about "The D Train" feels the least bit authentic, and worse, little about it is funny. That's a deadly recipe for a dark comedy. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Some critics are getting all up in the face of this audacious dark comedy for, well, being audacious. What are we supposed think about a movie that doesn't conform to formula? I'd start with grateful. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Writer/directors Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel let the movie run out of steam a bit before its ending (things get weirdly gooey), but Black keeps us hanging on as "The D Train" swerves; you hope that, somehow, he'll get through the journey safely. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It should be obvious by now that Black is much more than a funny fellow. This is a good actor with a particular strength at playing protected, disturbed personalities - secretly angry people trying with all their might to be something they're not. Read more

Sandy Cohen, Associated Press: The issue is the story. It's not just uneven, it's often unfunny: tinged with homophobia and centered on a wholly unlikeable, self-absorbed man. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A bromantic comedy with a sharp edge of melancholy, this indie casts Jack Black and James Marsden in the sort of parts they play frequently, then pushes them toward pathos. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: While Black is painfully effective as the dork who drops slangy kudos on his new BFF, Marsden is a revelation. Read more

James Rocchi, TheWrap: Black gives a career-highlight performance as an all-too-regular-guy tripped up by fame, fear, bad high school memories and a diabolically charming James Marsden in a strange, sharp comedy. Read more

David Ehrlich, Time Out: The D Train ultimately generates so few laughs from its thin "be yourself" message that a commendable refusal to gawk at the gay stuff is all that keeps it on track. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: The D Train is long on high-concept comedy, then runs out of steam and becomes a forced and far-fetched drama. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: The D Train has one great idea, a couple strong jokes, and a void at its center - a man who is only believable when he briefly becomes specific. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: The last act of The D Train becomes a hilarious, deeply weird, and ultimately touching medley of delusion, humiliation, and friendship. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "The D Train" is far from perfect - up to and including the waste of Kathryn Hahn in a lifeless, stereotypical role as Dan's wife - but it has its moments. And most of them belong to Marsden. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: While it dwells in a much darker realm than American humor generally ventures into, what it uncovers is worth a stare. Maybe even a shudder. Read more