Critic Reviews

• Melissa Anderson, Time Out New York

  The flashbacks are almost as smoothly subtle as the title of one of the paintings showcased by Billy Dee Williams's character: Portrait of a Journey.

• Scott Brown, Entertainment Weekly

  Neither the camera nor the script can focus.

• Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

  There are too many characters too sketchily defined, and some of the relationships are pure contrivances.

• Kyle Smith, New York Post

  Scenes in which little or nothing happens pass by slowly, and the only point of suspense is whether the number of tearful hugs at the end will reach double digits.

• Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times

  If earnestness equaled skill, Constellation would be a classic.

• Kevin Crust, Los Angeles Times

  Featuring a stalwart cast (many of whom appeared in Walker-Pearlman's 2000 drama, The Visit) and some delicately wrought moments, the film is unable to overcome its soap opera scenario and clunky pacing.

• Kam Williams, NewsBlaze

  This rudderless production lacks the coherence to be considered a finished feature film.

• Kam Williams, EURWeb

  This overplotted, emotional dump plods along as if the characters are stuck in the cinematic equivalent of quicksand, never generating any traction because no matter how much everybody vents, nothing of consequence ever transpires.

• Frank Lovece, Film Journal International

  I'm nodding off just thinking about the long, static close-ups and endless scenes of people walking and sitting and doing nothing.

• Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat

  ... the biggest problem is that the insights ... are strictly Hallmark TV movie stuff, an association reinforced by the mawkish visual style and score.

• Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  The stage is set for emotional pyrotechnics that never quite materialize, because for all their squabbles, grudges and grievances, they all basically love each other.

• Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News

  A movie whose abundant smarts are fatally compromised by its writer-director Jordan Walker-Pearlman's rudimentary filmmaking skills.

• Tim Cogshell, Boxoffice Magazine

  Loosely edited scenes juxtaposed in the most vexing ways and completely disparate motifs blurs Constellation into an image that the Hubble Space Telescope could not sharpen.

• Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly

  Constellation positions itself as a sweeping, multigenerational tearjerker in the style of The Notebook, complete with endless shots of two characters staring meaningfully at one another while gloppy music wells on the soundtrack.

• Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

  Lacks focus with its plethora of family entanglements.

• Eric Lurio, Greenwich Village Gazette

  There are no revelations here, no real reconciliations, as nobody really hates each other.

Read all 16 critic reviews