65
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottTo call this thrillingly original, deeply felt movie a coming-of-age story would be to insult it with cliché. It’s much more the story, or rather a series of interlocking, incomplete stories, about what it feels like to be a certain age and to feel caught, as the title suggests, between the desire to be yourself and the longing to fit in.
- 88Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoA delirious representation of incipient personalities in bloom, its form as amorphous and reckless as the vibrant youths it portrays.
- 70Village VoiceMichelle OrangeVillage VoiceMichelle OrangeAt its finest and most affecting, The We and the I is a window onto youth’s forever moments
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyMichel Gondry takes an idiosyncratic, funny, unexpectedly poignant snapshot of American youth in The We and the I. Rambling and unpolished, the film has a scrappy charm that springs organically from the characters and their stories rather than being artificially coaxed.
- 67The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe problem with The We And The I: Gondry is focused more on moments than on the film as a whole.
- 60The GuardianHenry BarnesThe GuardianHenry BarnesGondry's argument – that pack mentality crushes individual expression – follows a similarly predictable route, but there's enough of his signature playfulness (especially in the use of mobile-phone footage to present flashbacks) to keep the journey entertaining.
- 60New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMost of the performances are as unpolished as they are heartfelt, which is both endearing and distracting.
- 40Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearBy the end of the ride, the movie’s messy humanity has officially calcified into After-School Special clichés; given the choice between handcrafted whimsy and heavy-handedness, we’ll take the former, thanks.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithFake documentaries annoy me — why not put in the effort and deliver the real thing? — and this one is not only aimless and stiff, it also rings false.
- 25The PlaylistJames RocchiThe PlaylistJames RocchiMuddled, muffled and mixing empty comedy with empty dramatics, The We and the I is an abject failure.