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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:12
Rotten:27
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: The Answer Man takes an interesting premise and overloads it with implausible scenarios, indie comedy cliches, and an all-too-familiar story arc that only occasionally benefits from its typically capable actors.
Theatrical Release:Jul 24, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: From first-time director John Hindman, comes THE ANSWER MAN, a romantic comedy starring Jeff Daniels (The Squid and the Whale), Lauren Graham (“Gilmore Girls”) and Lou Taylor Pucci (Thumbsucker).... [More]
Starring: Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Taylor Pucci, Olivia Thirlby
Director: John Hindman
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The Answer Man combines the worst of both worlds: It offers the ugly digital video, negligible production values, and manufactured grit of a Sundance loser with the pandering formula, sentiment, and romantic-comedy clichés of Hollywood pap.
Never shows enough passion to be interestingly bad.
Top CriticWhat's the point of giving us unsentimentalized and messed-up characters if you're just going to steer them all towards a tidy, unconvincing denouement?
Has a terrific cast and charming performances, but it's often lazy, contrived, lacking insight and, ultimately, underwhelming in terms of drama, romance and comedy.
It almost felt like the characters weren’t really reciting dialogue that came from them but rather just simply memorizing it off the script.
You have a likable cast, an engaging enough story with a few moments of both humor and emotional honesty.
These are FATAL flaws in the screenplay -- not rooting for the romance to work and not rooting for the lead to find redemption. I wanted God to strike Arlen Faber down in the street.
Though his film is a tad choppy and a lot chatty, Hindman elicits sympathetic performances from leads who demonstrate a deep understanding of movie physics.
Top Criticabout as memorable as the proverbial stock picture that came with the frame
The debut from writer-director John Hindman features a premise that sounds an awful lot like As Good As It Gets, except the script isn't as sharp.
Top CriticThe implausible Answer Man offers little clarity but plenty of far-fetched scenarios and credibility-defying coincidences.
As part of the current season's spate of philosophical lifestyle pap movies like "Away We Go" and "$9.99," first-time-director (oh how I rue those words) John Hindman trips at every step.
First-time director/screenwriter John Hindman seems aware of how predictable his premise could be, and despite a plot hole or two, he's put together a smart script with likable characters and lively dialogue that subverts the obvious clichés.
An unpretentious, subtle story of one man's redemption.
The laid-back charm of Daniels and Graham's bumpy courtship gives the movie a much-needed edge of idiosyncrasy.
Top CriticAn uplifting spiritual drama about the value of wonder, the trouble with answers, the constrictions of fear, and the liberation of sharing and caring for others.
The movie's many parallels leave it feeling schematic when it isn't focused on Daniels and Graham, who have such good comic timing they overcome all flaws.
Daniels' Faber can be a curmudgeon one moment and a charmer the next, and it's hard to accept the notion that Graham's level-headed gal wouldn't instantly see through his act and show him the door.
Top CriticThe Answer Man is one of those modestly diverting motion pictures that's as sweet as cotton candy -- and as insubstantial.
Top CriticIts crackly sarcasm and smart talk turn out to be simply coating for a soft, icky, center.
July 23, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Orphan Is Mixed Bag
This week at the movies, we've got an evil adoptee (Orphan, starring Vera Farmiga and Peter Sarsgaard), a battle of the sexes (The Ugly Truth, starring Katherine Heigl and... More...
June 14, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
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June 14, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review
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