Neither earth-shaking nor profound, but it has considerable charm, thanks to an appealing cast and some sharply witty observations about the pressures of child-rearing in Manhattan.
67
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Parenthood seems only half aware of Eliza's REAL problem: that she thinks she's superior to the choices she's made.
50
Variety
Variety
Though pregnant with possibility, Motherhood fails to deliver.
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
USA TodayClaudia Puig
When it aims for humor, it feels overwrought and clichéd.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
The movie's narrative tension hinges on, well, nothing.
40
Village Voice
Village Voice
Dieckmann nails the look of a certain niche of urban neo-middle-class living, but the film's hyper-earnest tone and reliance on "day-from-hell" New York clichés overwhelm those details.
Dieckmann fails to notice that Thurman doesn’t have the comic chops for the material--she comes off more like a self-pitying loser than a witty, put-upon everywoman.
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Thurman is bespectacled again for Motherhood, and it saddens me to report that neither she nor this comedy turns into more than an argument against procreation.
20
Time Out
Time Out
It’s a judgmental tale whose only payoff is carpe diem drivel.