Get Real (1998)

Critic Reviews

• David Edelstein, Slate

  The strength of this agreeable comedy, directed by Simon Shore from a screenplay by Patrick Wilde, is that it makes even the tiniest sexual encounters seem emotionally momentous.

• Derek Elley, Variety

  Fresh, funny and thoroughly engaging.

• Lisa Alspector, Chicago Reader

  An issue movie, a comedy, and a love story, this is pretty good at being all three.

• Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

  The movie bravely goes where too many other films have gone before.

• Rick Groen, Globe and Mail

  Yes, we've heard the tale before, but somehow it just never gets stale: Welcome to another instalment of Romeo and Romeo.

• Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

  Shore and Wilde have done an admirable job in re-imagining Wilde's play as a movie, and they've created a wrenching, thoughtful entertainment that incorporates considerable comic relief.

• Sandra Contreras, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  Simon Shore's feature directing debut displays considerable confidence and aplomb. But his fairly hackneyed sense of storytelling seems to value accessibility above complexity, so don't expect any surprises.

• Trevor Johnston, Time Out

  The film is grounded in genuine emotions and its knowing humour serves it well. I laughed like a drain.

• Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

  Charming and romantic enough to get by.

• Allen White, Film Threat

  The performances are solid throughout, and the writing is straightforward and tight.

• Ilana Lindsey, Film Threat

  The rather unoriginal script, co-written by Shore and Patrick Wilde (who wrote the stage play upon which the film is based), has roughly an equal number of clever lines and embarrassing clunkers.

• James Sanford, Kalamazoo Gazette

  succeeds in conveying the misery that always results when people try to hide their true selves to impress others.

• Robin Clifford, Reeling Reviews

  It does a fair job and director Shore elicits a solid performance by Silverstone.

• Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com

  Anchored by a touching lead performance by Silverstone.

• John A. Nesbit, Old School Reviews

  above the usual mundane coming of age genre films

• Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer

  Get Real is essentially a conventional tale of forbidden young love that derives its emotional appeal from heartfelt performances by its young cast, particularly the charming Mr. Silverstone.

• Wesley Morris, San Francisco Examiner

  When the film's poised tone and occasional staginess threaten to intrude on the moving, sincere, recognizably true drama, the fact that the source material comes from a recent work, not some 400-year-old play, keeps it real.

Read all 17 critic reviews