Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘Speechless’?

Speechless (1994)

tomatometer

0

Average Rating: 3.9/10
Critic Reviews: 7
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 7

No consensus yet.

audience

34

liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 4,333

My Rating

Movie Info

A mix of political satire and a modern take on 1930's-style screwball comedy, this romance from director Ron Underwood was assumed by many to be based on the real-life relationship between liberal political consultant James Carville and conservative commentator Mary Matalin. Michael Keaton stars as Kevin, an insomniac who meets Julia (Geena Davis) in a store late one night as they haggle over the last bottle of sleeping pills. After spending a romantic evening together, Kevin and Julia each

PG-13, 1 hr. 39 min.

Comedy, Romance

Dec 26, 2001

MGM Home Entertainment

Cast

All Critics (27) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (3) | Rotten (23) | DVD (2)

Never achieves the madcap hilarity of the '40s romantic comedies it seeks to emulate, and some of the dramatic moments feel a bit forced.

March 26, 2009 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Ron Underwood, the director of City Slickers, once again compromises appealing actors and an entertaining premise with a needless overlay of mush.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Speechless is overplotted and underwritten. Every situation is straight out of stock, with no room for variation or originality.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The movie's a campaign disaster from the get-go, and no amount of damage control (including MGM's extensive publicity) can hide it.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Director Ron Underwood demonstrated a knack for comedy in City Slickers, but when it comes to love scenes ... Keaton and Davis might as well be stampeding cows.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post | Comment
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The level of humor is dialed safely down to the Sitcom setting, which limits what can happen, and how much we can care about it.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | Comment
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Utterly devoid of subtlety and grace, Speechless is a desperate, thrown-together hodgepodge that tries to glide by on the supposedly surefire chemistry of the pairing of Davis and Keaton.

August 12, 2009 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

The rivalry never sparks, the pace flags and it seems pointless to enter donkeys in a race designed for thoroughbreds.

August 12, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

Mugging to an unfunny script, Keaton and Davis are no Tracy and Hepburn, and the funereal pace doesn't help.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Toothless as political satire and bland as romantic comedy.

September 2, 2004 Comment
Capital Times (Madison, WI)

A limp, poorly structured would-be romantic comedy.

November 6, 2003 Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | Comment
rec.arts.movies.reviews

It comes down to the charms of Keaton and Davis in the end. You like these characters and root for them to score.

November 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | Comment
Austin Chronicle

This is intelligent romantic comedy of the kind we get all too seldom these days, and the plot is something Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn would have loved in their prime.

November 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | Comment
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Great Cast - pity nothing happens in it.

September 20, 2002 Comment
Moviehole

The movie starts slow but has two or three good laughs. After that it is downhill all the way.

July 28, 2002 Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | Comment
Internet Reviews
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Speechless

Remember those romantic comedies of old where the plots for the most part were usually entirely dispensible because all that really mattered was the chemistry between the two leads? Well this one reaches for just that high aspiration ...

May 6, 2011
moonrivers

Super Reviewer

Cute movie with likable performances by the leads.

August 4, 2007
Beefy
Steve K

Super Reviewer

Speechless Quotes

No quotes approved yet for Speechless. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Movies Like Speechless

Latest News for Speechless

April 28, 2006:
Lindsay Lohan is ... Speechless!
Lindsay Lohan and Adrien Brody have signed on to star in an indie rom-com called...

What's Hot On RT

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,565 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,430 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,152 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,649 taken
created 15 months ago
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile