Loverboy
Metascore
45 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 13
  3. Negative: 3 out of 13
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  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    75
    First-time director Kevin Bacon (Mr. Sedgwick) cleverly maintains a balance of discomfiting and familiar by jumping nimbly around Emily's life.
  2. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Bob Westal
    70
    Kevin Bacon's witty and effective, yet squirm-inducing, directorial debut.
  3. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    70
    Loverboy is a grim little story, but it's leavened unexpectedly with humor and energy. A stylish and thoughtful director, Bacon marries music to image beautifully.
  4. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: James Greenberg
    60
    Good performances and a keen eye for period detail can't disguise the fact that not much is happening here story-wise.
  5. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    50
    It all adds up to an unfortunate misfire: a film at odds with both its source material and itself.
  6. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    50
    Bacon instinctively pushes Loverboy toward surreal domestic satire. It's fascinating to watch Sedgwick try to make Emily into a luminous wack job.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Chuck Wilson
    50
    actor-turned-director Kevin Bacon (Sedgwick's husband) can't seem to decide if he's making a film about a loving eccentric or a sociopath.
  8. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    50
    Bacon the director indulges his wife, letting her play crazy and emotional in a showy performance that screams "serious actress."
  9. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    50
    Almost until the end, Loverboy maintains a shaky integrity. But in its final moments it caves in to convention with a mawkish epilogue to a story that ends with an appalling act of selfishness.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Dennis Harvey
    50
    A classic case of "Better if you didn't read the book" cinema, Loverboy emerges an OK character study of an abnormally possessive mother.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    38
    The real trouble is at its core, with an over-the-top performance from Sedgwick that borders on Baby Jane campiness.
  12. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    33
    Though he labors endlessly to account for her behavior, which is explained away by flashbacks to her decadent parents and a glamorous mother-figure played under Vaseline lens by an uncredited Sandra Bullock, Bacon fails to make her seem human.
  13. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    25
    Bacon lavishes his camera on her (Sedgwick) in various states of dress and undress, but the script, by Hannah Shakespeare - talk about having to live up to a name! - is a cheat. It rarely expands on the boy's crises in having to deal with such a mother.

User Reviews

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User Score
6.0 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. RegOz
    7
    Unfortunately, I don't think this movie has gotten all the attention it deserves. That is perhaps one of the reasons why it is not well known and up to certain point, underrated. I believe this is a very unique, innovative work. It has a great cast, and could have been a great film but sadly, it is not . 'Loverboy' collides with some conservative views for it challenges certain aspects of parenthood. It is intriguing, intelligent,and innovative. I never felt bored..although at times I got lost. I know there was plenty of room for improvement. The story needed more fluidity and some of the characters needed to be developed further. Overall, a good movie that with a better script, and more consistency, could have been a 9.… Full Review »
  2. KenG.
    4
    They came up with an intruing premise, but failed to come up with a compelling script, as story just sort of sputters along.
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