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Nearing Grace
Beyond the Box

Nearing Grace reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 62 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
8.0 out of 10
based on 11 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 1 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for drug use, language and sexual content

Starring Gregory Smith, David Morse, Jordana Brewster, Ashley Johnson, David Moscow, Chad Faust, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Sharon Lawrence

The death of the matriarch removes the anchor of a suburban New Jersey family, letting each member drift into those swift-moving social currents.


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Jacob Aaron Estes
Scott Sommer (novel)
 
DIRECTED BY: Rick Rosenthal  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: October 13, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 105 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

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...

80
Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
This film is smart, funny and, thanks in no small part to David Geddes' cinematography, it occasionally approaches the poetic.
Read Full Review
80
LA Weekly Scott Foundas
The actors are superb -- especially Smith, who exudes some of the live-wire charisma of the young Sean Penn in Rosenthal's "Bad Boys," and the smoldering Brewster.
Read Full Review
75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This intimate coming-of-age story benefits from excellent performances, notably Gregory Smith's.
Read Full Review
70
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The richness of the characters and themes in Nearing Grace inspire director Rick Rosenthal and his cast to create a film with terrific emotional energy and larkish humor.
Read Full Review
63
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The performances by Smith, Brewster and veteran David Morse, as a morbidly depressed widower, elevate Nearing Grace to something near grace.
Read Full Review
60
Village Voice Luke Y. Thompson
This '70s-era teen romance from the director of "Halloween II" and the screenwriter of "Mean Creek" is a quietly effective number, a little like an '80s John Hughes movie without the laughs (not an insult in this case).
Read Full Review
60
The New York Times Laura Kern
There's nothing remotely surprising in the entire film. But the generally winning -- and freakishly good-looking -- cast, endowed by Jacob Aaron Estes's script with intelligent, if occasionally overwritten dialogue, makes for viewing that is easy on the eyes and the ears.
Read Full Review
58
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Scott Sommer's late-1970s coming-of-age novel, with little of the vivid specificity of "Mean Creek," even though the two share a screenwriter and a producer.
Read Full Review
50
Variety Robert Koehler
Without Smith's graceful presence, which more than once resembles Zach Braff's slightly older but observant New Jerseyite in "Garden State," Nearing Grace would be pure video fodder.
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50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
A coming-of-age movie in which nobody comes of age.
Read Full Review
42
Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
The sort of movie that makes you feel like a heel for not liking it: Independently made and heartfelt, it also happens to have been shot in Portland. Nonetheless, the accumulation of cliches big and small manage to erase whatever goodwill its other features have engendered.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Steve F gave it an8:
The casting is superb with amazing performances by all the actors. The story is well constructed but drags in a few places. All in all a good film.

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