43
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsThe film is likable. Its messages, many of them Lord-oriented, are all equally heartfelt.
- 63Boston GlobeWesley MorrisBoston GlobeWesley MorrisFor most of Not Easily Broken, I wondered why the movie wasn't worse. Then I remembered it was directed by the veteran Bill Duke, who applies ample TLC.
- 50Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerSeattle Post-IntelligencerSean AxmakerDirector Bill Duke may believe the message but he never invests himself in the characters or their story, which becomes an illustrated lesson with reflective interludes and comic relief.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleUnfortunately, for those who do not subscribe to the notion that God's dust smooths a marriage's rough patches, but rather hard work by people do, the message rings hollow.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe actors do what they can with the cards they're dealt but can't overcome the nakedness of the dialogue or the characters' actions. Duke does ensure that the production flows smoothly though. And those frequent injections of comedy do wonders.
- 50The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottMr. Duke’s filmmaking is functional at best, and the extreme shifts in emotional tone -- especially a late and disastrous swerve into tragedy -- are handled clumsily in Brian Bird’s script. Yet Not Easily Broken is not easily dismissed. For one thing, the cast is excellent, and for another, its intentions are serious and generous.
- 50Baltimore SunMichael SragowBaltimore SunMichael SragowThe whole thrust of the movie is to warn black women against emasculating their men.
- 50Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallChicago ReaderAndrea GronvallBased on the novel by T.D. Jakes, this is a queasy mix of comedy, melodrama, and self-help spirituality; it's meant to be uplifting, but its profamily message is undercut by its virulently misogynistic treatment of the realtor and her mother (Jenifer Lewis), both too shrewish and controlling to be believed.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithAs bland as the Kenny G-style smooth jazz its hero listens to in moments of distress.
- 25The A.V. ClubNathan RabinThe A.V. ClubNathan RabinFor a film shamelessly trumpeting the importance of staying together through the hard times, Broken makes a disconcertingly convincing case for divorce.