Critic Reviews

• Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic

  It would be ripe territory for self-reflection if this sloppy debut from filmmaker Anne Renton weren't plagued with as much self-doubt and uncertainty as its lead Catholic.

• Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

  At the most fundamental level, as a work of entertainment, it fails. Scenes meander pointlessly, beginning and ending without any change or story movement.

• Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times

  A moving story of a woman's attempt to keep pace in a world that's moving too quickly for her.

• Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald

  A leaden, ham-fisted affair that was exactly the sort of pap John Waters was spoofing when he cast Turner as a serial-killing soccer mom.

• Ian Buckwalter, NPR

  The film's gentle, sentimental approach prevents it from ever really getting at the pain that's been swirling around this imperfect family for years.

• Lou Lumenick, New York Post

  "The Perfect Family'' is Kathleen Turner's show. And when a series of crises forces Eileen to re-examine her values and beliefs, Turner rises magnificently to the occasion.

• Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

  This Kathleen Turner vehicle is a stiff, a picture with so little urgency that it drags on like a sermon without end, with all the flavor of a communion wafer.

• Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com

  Turner is terrific, but The Perfect Family doesn't know quite what to do with her energy, eventually taking on so much surplus woe, there's no chance for a clean exit.

• Perry Seibert, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  Hollywood generally avoids religion whenever possible. The Perfect Family, a sweet and touching indie comedy-drama, tackles the subject head-on without offending or alienating anyone.

• Brent Simon, Shockya.com

  A resolutely middle-of-the-road affair that never locates and communicates a very persuasive reason for its existence, or even a compelling dramatic throughline. A cinematic 'meh' if ever there were one.

• Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze

  Religion butts heads mercilessly with romance in this ironically titled dysfunctional family values dramedy. But the premeditated plot points are simply too blatantly stacked against traditional matrimonial tribes, in favor of idealized same sex unions.

• Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate

  In this dramedy, Kathleen Turner is sincerely sympathetic, as faith triumphs over religion.

• Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International

  This often amusing pro-gay comedy delivers a dysfunctional family and religious orthodoxy in extremis with a bright cast headed by a droll Kathleen Turner.

• Marshall Fine, Hollywood & Fine

  The trailers make it look like an irreverent, iconoclastic satire; in fact it's dramatic - when it isn't dull and obvious.

• Robert Levin, amNewYork

  The movie teeters on the edge of caricature, but Kathleen Turner keeps it grounded and relatable.

• Diego Costa, Slant Magazine

  An anodyne tale of family-centered acceptance that's neither comical when it wants to be nor touching when it strivers for pathos.

Read all 16 critic reviews