Opening

78% Fast & Furious 6 May 24
—— The Hangover Part III May 23
—— Epic May 24
95% Before Midnight May 24
83% We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks May 24
—— Fill the Void May 24
—— A Green Story May 24
—— Alyce Kills May 24

Top Box Office

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49% The Great Gatsby $23.9M
46% Pain & Gain $3.2M
69% The Croods $3.0M
77% 42 $2.8M
56% Oblivion $2.3M
98% Mud $2.2M
37% Peeples $2.2M
8% The Big Wedding $1.2M

Coming Soon

—— After Earth May 31
—— Now You See Me May 31
88% The East May 31
100% The Kings of Summer May 31

The Baxter (2005)

tomatometer

33

Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 73
Fresh: 24 | Rotten: 49

The Baxter is good-natured, but there are simply not enough laughs to fuel this comedy.

24

Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 6 | Rotten: 19

The Baxter is good-natured, but there are simply not enough laughs to fuel this comedy.

audience

73

liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 7,306

My Rating

Movie Info

A man with a "doormat" personality tries standing up for himself for a change in this comedy. Mild mannered tax accountant Elliot Sherman (Michael Showalter) is what he calls a "Baxter": the kind of calm, unexciting fellow who "wears sock garters" and "enjoys raking leaves." Loved by bosses and parents, Elliot is a perfectly nice guy. And that's his problem -- he's safe and pleasant, but not very interesting, so as a consequence he hasn't had much luck with long-term relationships, and more than

PG-13,

Comedy, Romance

Michael Showalter

Dec 13, 2005

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Cast

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All Critics (83) | Top Critics (28) | Fresh (25) | Rotten (50) | DVD (6)

The performers are fresh and offbeat, with the diminutive Peter Dinklage (Elf, The Station Agent) especially funny as a gay wedding planner named Benson Hedges.

April 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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Showalter tackles his mission with energy and an upbeat attitude that makes him a winner as a lovable loser.

September 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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Only when Williams is around does the movie seem human, true, and funny: Even in her slapstick there's pain. She's almost too good: It's not until she's left a scene that you realize the movie isn't working.

September 24, 2005 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
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There are enough laughs that those who enjoyed The 40-Year-Old Virgin might want to take The Baxter for a whirl.

September 22, 2005 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic
Arizona Republic
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Showalter all-too-slavishly follows the lock-step school of formula romance.

September 16, 2005 Full Review Source: Washington Post
Washington Post
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Mildly cute while thoroughly forgettable, the chief achievement of The Baxter is it serves to remind viewers how thoroughly adorable Michelle Williams can be, even in something this inconsequential.

September 16, 2005
Detroit News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A droll romantic comedy that relies on a self-deprecating brand of humor which must be a bit of an acquired taste. The film's utter predictably sinks this exercise in obviousms, making its few funny moments not worth waiting for.

July 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Mount Desert Islander
Mount Desert Islander

A droll romantic comedy that relies on a self-deprecating brand of humor which must be a bit of an acquired taste. The film's utter predictably sinks this exercise in obviousms, making its few funny moments not worth waiting for.

July 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Upstage Magazine | Comments (2)
Upstage Magazine

Showalter cria um filme exatamente como seu protagonista: desajeitadamente simpático e divertido.

March 15, 2006
Cinema em Cena

What comes to mind are TV sitcom pilots full of strain, and the forlornly perky mechanisms of old Day & Hudson comedies.

October 21, 2005 Full Review Source: San Diego Union-Tribune
San Diego Union-Tribune

Clearly the filmmakers are trying to make The Baxter look old-fashioned. But there's a modern smugness and superiority that undermines that attempt.

September 30, 2005 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

It doesn't take much imagination to guess who will end up with whom, but The Baxter is agreeably silly and has lots of simple charm.

September 30, 2005 Full Review
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Every romantic-comedy cliché gets played out, but merely re-enacting those clichés in an arch tone isn't funny enough.

September 30, 2005
Salt Lake Tribune

The structure is a miscalculation by Showalter, who inexplicably drives his audience through the exact type of sappy material he had started off satirizing.

September 29, 2005 Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star
Arizona Daily Star

Perhaps it's only just that a movie about a loser should be a loser itself.

September 25, 2005 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion
One Guy's Opinion

Audience Reviews for The Baxter

CUTE! Peter Dinklage completely stole the movie, as he always does. Michelle Williams is adorable, as she always is. Very cute and offbeat.
November 9, 2006
dreamfaeries

Super Reviewer

this low-key comedy invents a culture of upscale WASP nerddom that Showalter gets to act out with the maximum mannerisms; Rudd and Banks are unfortunately diminished, mostly by mediocre dialogue; a major step forward in portraying the ultra-cool romantic rival as shallow and tiresome, showing how a person can still look pretty lame even after they fulfill a hip-suave-sensitive checklist--more realistic than Bradley Cooper in Wedding Crashers, the long-delayed post-PC-evolution of the Omega Theta Pi psychopaths in Animal House
August 14, 2009
adammahler1

Super Reviewer

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Latest News on The Baxter

October 6, 2005:
Summer Tomatometer Wrap-up #4: The Worst of the Summer
Over the past few days, we've tried to counter the common misconception that this summer's cinematic...

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