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Nearing Grace
Metascore
62 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    80
    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.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Michael Ordona
    80
    This film is smart, funny and, thanks in no small part to David Geddes' cinematography, it occasionally approaches the poetic.
  3. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    This intimate coming-of-age story benefits from excellent performances, notably Gregory Smith's.
  4. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    70
    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.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    The performances by Smith, Brewster and veteran David Morse, as a morbidly depressed widower, elevate Nearing Grace to something near grace.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    60
    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).
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Laura Kern
    60
    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.
  8. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    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.
  9. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    50
    A coming-of-age movie in which nobody comes of age.
  10. Variety
    Reviewed by: Robert Koehler
    50
    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.
  11. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    42
    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.
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User Score
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No user score yet- Awaiting 3 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. SteveF
    8
    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.