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Big Eden
Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 19 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 19
  3. Negative: 1 out of 19
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  1. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    80
    Dares to substitute wit and warmth for the standard gay indie tropes in tackling its tale of an unconventional couple.
    All this critic's reviews
  2. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Rita Kempley
    80
    The key to success: The audience must really like both characters and believe that they deserve a fairy-tale ending. That's definitely the case in this nicely acted love story.
  3. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: David Ehrenstein
    80
    Has all the crowd-pleasing elements moviegoers respond to: appealing hero, absorbing story, a solid group of supporting players and a big fat happy ending.
  4. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    75
    But it's more than a crowd-pleaser shot at spectacular Rocky mountain locations -- it's almost revolutionary.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    75
    It's unlikely that the whole cowboy town would really applaud all the queer goings-on, but it's a lovely sentiment in a lovely movie.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Scott Heller
    75
    It's a refreshing alternative to hipper-than-thou moviemaking.
    All this publication's reviews
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Paul Malcolm
    70
    A rosy, hearthside fantasy of acceptance that's so assured in its writing and direction, it's nearly impossible not to believe.
  8. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    70
    An accomplished heart-tugger, a serious romantic comedy that tackles two dilemmas with honesty and compassion.
  9. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    70
    Funny, moving, and insightful look at questions about identity and community.
  10. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Kim Morgan
    67
    Entertaining, well-acted and hopeful about a world in which sexual orientation isn't a big deal, Big Eden is a pretty picture -- it just tends to be a little too perfect and cute for its own good.
  11. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Paula Nechak
    67
    Writer and first-time director Thomas Bezucha certainly knows how to create warmth, ambience and situation.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    63
    Director Bezucha's eyes are as starry as Montana's sky, but it's pretty hard to resist such a determinedly utopian vision of love.
  13. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Robert Horton
    60
    Little of this is plausible, but it is beguiling.
  14. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    Until the plot becomes intolerably cornball, there's charm in the story.
  15. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    50
    By creating a kind of politically correct version of Andy Griffith's "Mayberry," director Bezucha has drained the movie not only of bigotry but also of dramatic conflict.
    All this critic's reviews
  16. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    50
    Too cute by half (or maybe three-quarters).
  17. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    50
    Yet as wonderful as it is to see a breezy, earnest romantic comedy that is so matter-of-factly gay-themed, Big Eden suffers somewhat, unsurprisingly, from some of the usual perils of a breezy, earnest romantic comedy.
  18. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    50
    The movie is as flat and plain as a television program, and most of the supporting characters (including Louise Fletcher as a kindly schoolmarm) seem equally two-dimensional, as if they had wandered in from the set of "The Andy Griffith Show."
  19. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Mark Holcomb
    30
    Stupefyingly benign.
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