Critic Reviews

• Guy Lodge, Time Out

  The intervention of Tony Soprano, who lives not far away, is urgently called for.

• Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

  The Oranges does not taste freshly squeezed.

• Linda Barnard, Toronto Star

  The leafy green trees evident everywhere in what purports to be New Jersey Christmas scenes aren't the only thing that feels off in the predictable domestic bedroom comedy The Oranges.

• Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger

  You want something that plays a little sharper, and cuts a little deeper. You want something that demands more of its performers, and delivers more to its audience.

• Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

  You know the movie has an insurmountable problem when the two adulterers, who profess to be madly in love, don't even seem like they want to be in the same room.

• Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

  The Oranges displays an air of efficient economy. Nothing is messy, no beat too long, the actors hit their marks.

• Philip French, Observer [UK]

  The acting almost varnishes the fractured surface, enabling the audience to accept the film as a deeply felt, feelgood family comedy.

• Emma Dibdin, Digital Spy

  The dialogue's much saltier and sharper than you expect from a drama that's essentially playing it safe.

• Rich Cline, Contactmusic.com

  There's plenty of potential for jagged black humour in this suburban comedy-drama, but the filmmakers never take a single risk.

• Charlotte O'Sullivan, This is London

  The movie's horribly jaunty soundtrack is a problem. Ditto the blah camera-work. But mostly it's the script, which turns out to be spineless.

• David Aldridge, Radio Times

  It's all mildly amusing, if fairly obvious, stuff and it's impeccably played by the superb cast. But you can't help feeling that they all deserve something rather more worthy of their talents.

• Grant Rollings, Sun Online

  How much you enjoy this comedy will depend upon how gross you consider the idea of a married 50-year-old father having an affair with his best friend's 24-year-old daughter.

• David Jenkins, Little White Lies

  A tricky social conundrum is boiled down, lightly prodded and then forgotten by the roadside. Shame.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  Disappoints with its gooey liberalism and its failure to find a convincing dramatic register for the central relationship.

• MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

  I'm not sure a better cast has ever gone more ickily astray than in this most misbegotten of dramedies.

• Henry Fitzherbert, Daily Express

  It's no classic but diverting enough. At the very least it will most likely put your family Christmas feuds into perspective.

• Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

  Marital crisis in the New Jersey suburbs feels like yesterday's soggy granola in this impressively witless clone of American Beauty.

• Nigel Andrews, Financial Times

  Sporadic in its own sparkle, middling in its wit, the film will be required viewing mainly for Hugh Laurie phenomenologists ...

• Matthew Turner, ViewLondon

  Engaging dysfunctional family comedy-drama with terrific performances from a superb ensemble cast, though it's not quite as edgy as it should have been.

• Tim Evans, Sky Movies

  An honest look into stale relationships and an ultimately optimistic view of how things can change even if they initially appear slightly ikky.

Read all 25 critic reviews