Critic Reviews

• Joe Leydon, Variety

  It isn't good enough, it isn't smart enough, and, doggone it, most people won't like Stuart Saves His Family.

• Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

  Even if you find Franken hard to bear, as I do, the movie's take on how he functions in the world is both authoritative and compelling, and the movie steadily grows in stature.

• , Time Out

  Those familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous' 12-step recovery programme may bond in sympathy. The sentimentality, however, doesn't play.

• Janet Maslin, New York Times

  The plotting is surprisingly banal, involving even talk of a property easement and turning Stuart into the executor of a relative's estate. And the relatives' problems are taken semi-seriously, which is more than this lightweight film can handle.

• Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times

  It was much funnier when we didn't see Stuart's family. And, if we have to see them, it would have been much funnier if they were strait-laced '50s sitcom types.

• Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

  All in all, it's a misfire -- but a misfire that's more interesting than a lot of successes.

• , TV Guide's Movie Guide

  Often funny, darker than you'd expect, and firmly grounded in Franken's extensive experience of the 12-Step worldview.

• , Film4

  Played unsuccessfully for laughs, it is ploddingly directed. And proudly proclaimed as a Ramis film. After this he should change his name or profession.

• JoBlo, JoBlo's Movie Emporium

  I prepared myself for yet another "one joke" Saturday Night Live movie here, but what I got was an enjoyable little film that actually touched upon some interesting issues...

• Luke Y. Thompson, New Times

  Not as bad as you'd expect

• Martin Scribbs, Low IQ Canadian

  I forgive you, Al Franken. You were young and needed the money.

• Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

  There can be no excuse.

• Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

  Though it misfires, this spoof of recovery programs should be noted for its sincerity.

• Scott Weinberg, Apollo Guide

  Better than most SNL flotsam, but surely that's not saying much.

• Scott Renshaw, rec.arts.movies.reviews

  Big mistake.

Read all 15 critic reviews