Meet Bill Reviews
Top CriticThis movie never should have seen the light of day.
St. Paul Pioneer Press
Clunky and smug, Meet Bill isn't convincing for one moment.
Full Review
| Original Score: 1/4
Even a hilarious turn by Kristen Wiig as the owner of a doughnut company can't save this clichéd, meandering story from playing like American Beauty lite.
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| Original Score: D
BrianOrndorf.com
It doesn't take long for Bill to suddenly veer off course into total impenetrability, where the characters become a blur, the hacky visual poetry is rolled out, and the plot drops dead.
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| Original Score: D
DVDTalk.com
Not even a solid performance can keep the script's problems at bay.
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
L.A. Weekly
It tries hard to mimic the arch tone of the best suburban tragicomedies (American Beauty, et al.), but a surfeit of stock characters, double-wide plot holes and heavy-handed symbolism ruins the effect.
Male midlife crisis presents as pathological self-loathing in Meet Bill, an imperative to which the only sane response is: No thanks.
| Original Score: 1.5/5
The story of a man (Aaron Eckhart) grappling with middle-age ennui at work and at home feels done to death, as does the distracting addition of a spunky rich-kid high schooler.
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| Original Score: 1.5/5
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
For those whose idea of hilarity is an adult and a kid throwing fireworks at each other, then getting stoned and playing piggyback in the mall, this movie should be a refreshing tonic.
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| Original Score: C-
Husband-and-wife helmers Melisa Wallack and Bernie Goldmann make all the wrong choices, from the grimacing they've encouraged their large (and largely wasted) cast to indulge in, to the musical riffs that signal each and every dramatic beat.
When all is said and done, Bill is let down by Bill.
Meet Bill misfires on multiple levels, but its foremost mistake is focusing on a sad-sack underachiever. Bill doesn't believe in himself, so why should we?
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| Original Score: 1.5/4
Boxoffice Magazine
Takes scattershot aim at all manner of appropriate targets-the vapid nature of local television news, the perceived stigma of standing out from the pack in America, the dilemma of dreams deferred and abandoned-but rarely hits the comic bull's-eye.
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| Original Score: 2.5/5
Los Angeles CityBeat
Not awful or offensive, but pretty weak broth nonetheless.
Urban Cinefile
Discovering your real self is the theme of Meet Bill, in which Bill has to work hard to finally meet himself
Sin Magazine
As the movie goes on, you actually end up rooting for this schmuck to take charge of his life, and in a way, the movie is sort of inspiring.
Full Review
| Original Score: 3/4
Reel Film Reviews
...basically entertaining yet entirely forgettable.
Full Review
| Original Score: 2.5/4
