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What Love Is

EMAILPRINTBig Sky Motion Pictures

What Love Is reviews
14
8.7 User Score:

Overwhelming dislike

Based on 8 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Mars Callahan

Directed by: Mars Callahan

Release Date:
Theatrical: March 23, 2007

Running Time: 88 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: R for pervasive language including graphic sexual dialogue, and some erotic dancing

Starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Matthew Lillard, Mars Callahan, Sean Astin, Anne Heche, Andrew Daly, Gina Gershon, and Tamala Jones

A sincere, insightful and unapologetically frank romantic comedy about a man who finds out, during the course of one very important night in his life, what love truly is. (Big Sky Motion Pictures)

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...

67

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

In its own peculiar way, What Love Is is a testament to the redemptive power of words. Thankfully, Callahan knows to keep it short and sweet, lest his audience go mad from the noise.

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30

Variety Peter Debruge

Picture looks and sounds like an Off Off Broadway play.

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25

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

An acquired taste.

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20

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Romantic comedies should never be this exhausting. Despite a few good zingers, Mars Callahan's vitriolic take on the sexes sinks under the weight of its secondhand psychobabble and smug apercus.

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10

LA Weekly James C. Taylor

Actor-writer-director Mars Callahan's diarrheal 10-character rant about modern relationships sounds like it was researched by eavesdropping on the restroom chatter at a high school prom.

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0

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's a shrill cacophony of puerile clichés about men and women and sex, delivered in adrenaline-driven harangues and arrogant lectures. When the stage clears, all that's left is the unpleasant odor of all that hot air.

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0

Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen

Devotes itself to inflicting serious pain upon innocent moviegoers who wander into what is perhaps the single most poorly conceived and ineptly executed movie released to theaters in quite some time.

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0

The Hollywood Reporter Staff (Not credited)

The problem is that if Callahan spent even a week writing this script, he wasted four good days. The dialogue, characters and situations are distressingly bad.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a3:
Way too yakky and tritely written, at times abrasive as well as stereotypical. The acting isn't too bad, but it seems like a stage play. A waste of some good talent.

Tony W. gave it a10:
Very funny, fast, with a message.

Hondo J. gave it a10:
Auteur Mars Callahan has created a one-of-a-kind hilarious romp through the pitfalls of commitment. "What Love Is" manages to remain true to the rom-com form while at the same time avoiding the sappy cliches. The marvelous Matthew Lillard, last seen in a low-key turn as Shaggy in the Scooby Doo series, is alternately charming and menacing as the required best friend, and Anne Heche is breathtaking as the always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride older sister. Callahan's script operates at a breakneck pace, bringing to mind classics such as "The Philadelphia Story" and "Adam's Rib," appropriate since Gina Gershon reveals herself to be the next Katharine Hepburn. If you ask this reviewer "What Love Is," he'll tell you: the odds-on favorite for Oscar glory so far.

John S. gave it a10:
I got the message of the movie. I can see how most people won't. 95% of the world has no idea what love really is and if you have no idea what it is then you probably won't recognize it when you see it. Most people believe that love is what they feel for a person. Love is not about what you feel. It is how you want the person you love to feel. When you care about another person more than you care about yourself then that is Love and that is the message in this movie. Like most people feel for their children, most people would rather die before allowing harm to their child.

Robert R. gave it a10:
This movie is hilarious, a great way to get in to the spring break mood.

Flyin free gave it a10:
I recently had a chance to view this movie at a screening and it is a hilarious comedy. they have some of the clips at the website for the movie and while it may seem like the trailer has all the best parts, it doesn't. This movie has a lot more to give. It';s a love comedy for adults when a lot of love comedies are mostly for teens. In my opinion it's the funniest movie of this year.

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