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Dedication
The Weinstein Company


7.7

based on 19 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 4 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for language and some sexual content

Starring Bob Balaban, Amy Sedaris, Billy Crudup, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Bogdanovich, Charlene Biton, Martin Freeman, and Mandy Moore

Dedication is a modern love story in which the misanthropic, emotionally complex author of a hit children's book series is forced to team with a beautiful illustrator after his best friend and creative collaborator passes away. As Henry struggles with letting go of the ghosts of love and life, he discovers that maybe all it takes is a little dedication to find love. (The Weinstein Company)

GENRE(S):	Comedy \| Drama \| Romance
WRITTEN BY:	David Bromberg
DIRECTED BY:	Justin Theroux
RELEASE DATE:	Theatrical: August 24, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	111 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Reader Joshua Katzman

Actor Justin Theroux makes an impressive directorial debut, aided by David Bromberg's mordantly funny dialogue.

New York Post Kyle Smith

A pleasingly weird, dryly funny little indie.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Dedication works anyway, thanks to Theroux's jumping visuals and Crudup's jumpy performance.

Film Threat Zack Haddad

This is a decent flick, it is just I have seen this a few times before.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Crudup delivers a bracing, uncompromising performance, but it's unmistakably a solo turn in a romantic comedy that's supposed to be about the blurring of egos and the fusing of two idiosyncratic voices into a single harmonious duet.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Gianni Truzzi

To director Justin Theroux's credit, he differentiates his film with a dusky visual style that reflects Henry's murky interior. He uses the grit of his Manhattan locations to give outward expression to Henry's volatile, selfish and terrified state of mind.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

Dedication would've been better if it had stuck to its disreputable guns instead of going all mushy and predictable, and slathering an emo soundtrack over everything.

Slate Dana Stevens

Directorially, Dedication is a bit of a mess, unable to settle on a tone or visual style. But it leaves you wishing the oddball couple well.

Chicago Tribune Sid Smith

Frame by frame, Crudup is fascinating.

San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego

In the end, all the bitterness seems like window-dressing to disguise a trite story.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie is a first-time directorial effort by Justin Theroux, a splendid actor, son of the writer Phyllis, nephew of the novelist Paul. He might have done better to have taken on something by them.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Individual scenes in actor Justin Theroux's directorial debut possess a certain flair, but the central issue on which the story turns -- how obnoxious and mean-spirited can you be and still get someone to love you? -- presents a forbidding obstacle.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

A movie that reveals its toxic intentions only gradually. Until it does, there is much to enjoy in the prickly odd-couple relationship of Henry (Billy Crudup) and Rudy (Tom Wilkinson), successful writing partners and longtime friends.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A strong cast that flounders in profoundly unappealing material.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

It's a romantic comedy, though neither funny nor romantic. It's a ghost story, though not scary. It's a satire about publishing, but without teeth.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Unlike most of what Moore has been in, Dedication is unlikely to delight retirement homes on movie night. But it's not imaginative, lively, or true enough to speak to its intended audience of American Apparel shoppers, either. It's a slog.

Washington Post Hank Stuever

Theroux and company could be said to be "Garden State"-ing, or trying to. Instead of that film's sheen of the touchingly weird, Dedication finds a whole lot of the coldly dumb.

Village Voice Aaron Hillis

"Inland Empire's" Justin Theroux pops his directorial cherry with this obnoxious Sundance throwaway, a by-the-numbers romantic comedy that mistakenly believes it's either too quirky or too irreverent to be a by-the-numbers romantic comedy.

Wall Street Journal Joanne Kaufman

Tiresome, pretentious.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it a7:
When South African novelist Doris Lessing("The Golden Notebook") won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2007, Erica Jong, author of "The Fear of Flying", wrote that "they could have given it to Philip Roth for paeans to his penis," which brings us to "Dedication". Henry Roth(Billy Crudup) is celibate(when he's not careful, he leaves a human stain). He writes children's "literature". Lucy Reilly(Mandy Moore), an illustrator by default, entered the profession after she outlived her usefulness as a self-important thesis adviser's muse. Reilly shares the same surname as Valerie Martin, the author of "Mary Reilly"; the lesser Reilly, a PhD candidate for English literature, wanted to distance herself("as far as possible," she tells Henry) from the world of important books. Another name with literary allusions, another inside joke, "Dedication" is funnier than you think. In children's literature, the target demographic tends to be more scrutinizing about pictures than words. Henry is disposable. His maladjusted persona seems better fitted for a man who writes real literature. All that neuroses is wasted on a beaver named Bucky. Henry's machismo and hubris seems disproportionate to his literary talent. "Dedication" is "Pollock" of a lesser god. For sure, he's Roth of a lesser god. Lucy, formally trained in uncovering meaning behind objects, will have no problems figuring out the root of beaver.

Jay H. gave it a5:
This movie is slow as molasses. The performances are appealing and the cinematography is attractively done, nice score and editing, but the writing was uninspiring and tedious.

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Dedication The Weinstein Company

Dedication
The Weinstein Company