70
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertLaBute's "Your Friends and Neighbors'' is to "In the Company of Men'' as Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction'' was to "Reservoir Dogs.'' In both cases, the second film reveals the full scope of the talent, and the director, given greater resources, paints what he earlier sketched.
- 100The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)It is superbly executed and, for all its pitilessness, it's an intelligent dramatization of the impact that consumerist values have had on the psyche of the North American middle class at the end of the 20th century.
- 90NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenWhat keeps you in your seat is the acting. Keener, crisply and coolly playing against type, commands the screen. [24 August 1998, p. 58]
- 89Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenLaBute's narrative structure and visual strategies are rigorously crafted, bespeaking an almost mathematical calculation that, in compellingly contradictory ways, both enhances the dramatic experience while undermining its very authenticity.
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversLaBute achieves a bracing originality by observing human folly as a means to understand rather than condemn. Love or hate his films, LaBute is one of the most challenging filmmakers to emerge in years.
- 75ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAs was true for "In the Company of Men," LaBute doesn't care if viewers are offended. Supported by a fine group of actors, he tells the story without compromises, and that gives us a refreshing alternative to multiplex fare.
- 75San Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserSan Francisco ExaminerBarbara ShulgasserThe acting and writing is a cut above the ordinary.
- 70The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley KauffmannLaBute's dialogue reminds us that, along with that of such others as Hal Hartley and Jim Jarmusch and Whit Stillman, the sheer writing, these days, of some American films is remarkably fine. LaBute has cast his film to match, with people who can handle his dialogue neatly. [31 August 1998, p. 28]
- 70TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissJason Patric is the chief sleaze; Ben Stiller adds to his gallery of wormy guys; and Aaron Eckhart is the doleful husband who, when asked who his best lay was, unabashedly answers, "Me." [24 August 1998, p. 85]
- 25San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleThis is an embarrassing film. It's a sex comedy that sets itself up as a satire of middle-class mores, except there's no truth behind any of its observations. LaBute tries to be shocking and manages only to be shockingly puerile -- tasteless in a high-school-boyish sort of way.