Latter Days
Metascore
45 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 21
  3. Negative: 5 out of 21
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    70
    At once romantic, earthy and socially critical, Latter Days is a dynamic film filled with humor and pathos.
  2. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dave Kehr
    70
    Works in the end because of its commitment to its characters and a handful of fine performances.
  3. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    70
    Although the rest of the story plays out with melodramatic predictability, it's timely, not to mention refreshing, to see an affirmation of true love over hot sex, along with a reminder that the two aren't necessarily mutually exclusive.
  4. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    63
    One of the sly pleasures of Latter Days is the sight of this gay-themed movie recycling so many conventions from straight romantic cinema, as if it's time to catch up.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    63
    In equal parts earnest and awkward, this romance between a Mormon missionary and an L.A. party boy falls significantly short of its lofty goals.
  6. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    A modest and obviously heartfelt endeavor.
  7. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    63
    Such a well-meaning but unambitious work that it's tempting to take it seriously even as you dismiss it.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    60
    Cox, a fifth-generation Mormon whose own story isn't too far from that of Elder Davis, shows how much of Aaron's strength derives directly from his faith, while even the most homophobic of Cox's characters demonstrate a capacity for both charity and, possibly, change.
  9. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Frank Scheck
    50
    This directorial debut from C. Jay Cox is a sometimes comic melodrama.
  10. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    50
    An odd mix itself, of contemporary sexual realism and unabashed romantic fantasy. If "Days" works, it's mostly on a sheer fantasy level.
  11. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    A glossy gay soap opera that graphically illustrates new meanings for the term "missionary position."
  12. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    50
    Though the film covers familiar queer-cinema ground, Latter Days' finely observed truths about the painful costs of being yourself make even the contrivance of its happy ending forgivable.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    50
    Falls back on the broad characterizations and stereotypical situations that typified the earliest gay-themed movies, while preaching a familiar (though not entirely ingenuous) message of tolerance.
  14. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    50
    The screenplay is schizoid. The first half is figuratively brassy, but then the violins begin to soar.
  15. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    This sitcom setup is as bad as it sounds, and Cox never really surmounts it, though the characters deepen significantly after the missionary is caught caressing the waiter and sent home to be excommunicated and shamed by his family.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    40
    The end of the film edges toward camp, and the sudden arrival of surreal dream sequences threatens to push it over the side. The movie is more sophisticated when it’s not trying to be complex.
  17. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    38
    What's wrong with Latter Days is that its banter is pedestrian and its lessons forced.
  18. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ed Halter
    30
    Cox's tacky melodrama is indeed sub-par, but no worse than numerous gay indies.
  19. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    25
    The performances are shaky, rendering Latter Days as a movie that you've seen before, and done better, too.
  20. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    25
    This tale of tortured love between a Mormon missionary and a West Hollywood tomcat renders its gay and religious characters so stereotypical that neither lifestyle appears attractive.
  21. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    20
    Stranding an able supporting cast in mostly disposable roles--including Jacqueline Bisset, Mary Kay Place, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Amber Benson--Cox writes himself into several corners, then plots honking contrivances to get out of them.

User Reviews

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User Score
8.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 39 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 28
  3. Negative: 2 out of 28
  1. latifs
    10
    Gave it a10:this movie is a very special for me.i like the story also happy ending.
  2. DaveyJ.
    9
    As an ex-mormon for pretty-well the same reasons as Aaron, I have to say that I loved this film! More....more....I want more!
  3. LeeH.
    9
    This charming film treats all of it's characters with respect. It's pure Hollywood formula but a tearjerker and in the end redemptive.
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