41
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenFree Ride offers an unsettling vision of a demimonde whose inhabitants live with the reality that there may be no tomorrow.
- 50VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibThe script’s autobiographical roots tend to substitute for a well-constructed dramatic throughline, giving the film an open-endedness that feels more dismissive than ambivalent.
- 50Slant MagazineDiego SemereneSlant MagazineDiego SemereneShana Betz's too-insistent refusal to commit to the melodramatic or to the suspenseful only makes the film seem like empty dramatization.
- 50Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinLos Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinThe result, while sincere and nicely evoked, feels choppy, familiar and, despite the script's heavily stacked deck — and a few harrowing episodes — lacks sufficient momentum.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe film's generosity toward Christina's decision-making is, however true to life, dramatically unsatisfying.
- 40Time OutTime OutIt’s in these parent-free gaps that the film becomes less a vehicle for Paquin or helmer Betz (too benign to critically sketch her criminal mother), and more one for Liberato.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOn the bright side, the charismatic Liberato is one to watch. And de Matteo (“The Sopranos”) brings a crucial jolt of assertive energy. Both seem to be in another, more exciting movie entirely.
- 30Village VoiceMichael NordineVillage VoiceMichael NordineThe film is content to merely document certain happenings and hope you find them as interesting as it does.
- 25New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithIt’s unspeakably depressing to see Anna Paquin playing the mom (of a teenager!), but the pointlessness and mediocrity of the Paquin-produced Free Ride is even more depressing.