Harold (2008)

Critic Reviews

• Ronnie Scheib, Variety

  A terminally lame puberty comedy about a prematurely bald 13-year-old.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  Harold is a genuine oddity that's more watchable than it sounds.

• Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

  There's little indication, beyond the endlessly unfunny school humiliations and fogey-dom signposts (ha ha, he uses Old Spice), that the notion of a preteen codger is worth our sympathies.

• Nathan Lee, New York Times

  Harold is the type of one-note dead zone ideally suited for a bathroom break while sitting home on a Saturday night, alone and semidrunk, in front of the television.

• Michelle Orange, Village Voice

  The long stretches of dead air that, it can only be assumed, were supposed to be filled by laughter provide ample time for pondering what audience Harold, T. Sean Shannon's strenuously stale comedy, was intended to find.

• Norm Schrager, Filmcritic.com

  confidently struts along, seemingly unaware of its lackluster script and distinct lack of professionalism.

• David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com

  While the script never gels into anything worthy of the peculiar premise, Harold is still worth seeing for Breslin's marvelously weird performance.

• David Noh, Film Journal International

  Has a wan sweetness to it which helps it through its more forced and obvious patches, of which there are many.

• Pete Hammond, Boxoffice Magazine

  Shot and lit like a mediocre TV show, the sporadically amusing Harold is a true Blockbuster contender, that is for the bargain bins of the video store. And soon.

• Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

  Breslin is the best thing about this myopic comedy that doesn't even get any humorous traction from the stereotypes it presses through its low-fidelity independent film filter.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  An outsider adolescent sinks in a sea of troubles in this wobbly comedy.

• Anna King, Time Out New York

  Aside from a few smart tweaks, the film doesn't subvert the genre but rather falls afoul of it.

• Edward Douglas, ComingSoon.net

  The presence of Cuba Gooding Jr. in this odd little indie comedy should set off early alarm bells.

• Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze

  Abigail's older brother Spencer Breslin, does his own magnificent Little Mister Sunshine leading boy thing. Harold, a kinder, gentler Superbad minus the talking dirty teen motormouths. Move over, Judd Apatow.

• Harvey S. Karten, Compuserve

  The low-budget high-school comedy is no 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off' but should provide for not only laughs but some insight into the life of a smart, 13-year-old outsider.

Read all 15 critic reviews