The masterstroke of this small, heartfelt directorial debut (by Peter Care, from a screenplay by Jeff Stockwell) is its integration of animated sequences (by Todd McFarlane) in which action-adventure caricatures of the comic book characters parallel or comment on events in the boys' lives.Read Full Review »
90
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Kevin Thomas
The look and feel of the film is entirely beguiling. It is deliberately not a period piece, heavy with dated styles and fads, but instead evokes a sense of timelessness.Read Full Review »
90
Washington Post: Desson Thomson
Steers refreshingly clear of the usual cliches. Character takes the wheel and dictates the action, not the other way around.Read Full Review »
88
Philadelphia Inquirer: Steven Rea
A fine, inventive '70s period piece about friendship, first love, and growing up to face the hard lessons of life.Read Full Review »
First-time director Peter Care crafts something darkly funny and touching from a coming-of-age fable that might have drifted into formula without deeply felt performances from Culkin and Hirsch and dazzling animation from Todd McFarlane (Spawn) that brings the boys' comic fantasies to jolting life.Read Full Review »
80
Village Voice: J. Hoberman
Has marked affinities to "Ghost World" and "Donnie Darko." It's more amorphous and less sharply drawn than either but has an acute sense of guilty secrets and secret places.Read Full Review »
75
ReelViews: James Berardinelli
Isn't the best coming-of-age story to hit the big screen, but it skirts new territory, and does so with a flare that earns it a recommendation.Read Full Review »
63
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: Roger Ebert
If the film had been less extreme in the adventures of its heroes, more willing to settle for plausible forms of rebellion, that might have worked. It tries too hard, and overreaches the logic of its own world.Read Full Review »
63
Boston Globe: Wesley Morris
Like watching somebody else's flashback and wondering what you were doing then instead.Read Full Review »
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