Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 21
  2. Negative: 0 out of 21
  1. Cheery, expertly constructed Spanish farce.
  2. Winningly human, and wonderfully funny.
  3. As directors, Harari and De Pelegri have just the right light-fingered glissando touch. Not a moment sags. Their cast relishes and fulfills the tempo.
  4. Reviewed by: Jessica Reaves
    75
    The film's snappy action and frank sexuality are reminiscent of "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," while the mordant humor and conflicting identities are vintage Allen.
  5. The slapstick gets a little too silly, and a rushed ending feels unsatisfying. But everyone whose family boasts an excess of opinions will relate.
  6. 75
    Moves along briskly, with several laugh-out-loud moments.
  7. There's a manic quality to the film that may wear you down. But at least you won't be bored.
  8. 75
    There's nothing subtle about Pelegri and Harari's culture-clash romp, but it's sometimes frantically funny; that it's thoroughly forgettable is an issue only if you expect it to do more than poke easy fun at the thorny issues it raises.
  9. 75
    A dinner-from-hell comedy about a pretty Jewish Spaniard who brings a nice Palestinian guy home to her outspoken Madrid family.
  10. 70
    A movie that is never elegant but is often hysterically funny, and maintains a rabbit-on-speed pace that Hollywood comedy long ago abandoned.
  11. Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    A Spanish dinner-theater comedy, this intermittently hilarious contraption by the husband-wife team of Dominic Harari and Teresa de Pelegri heaves Jewish-Palestinian conflict onto a prop-room table already groaning with loaded guns, impromptu sex toys, a wounded duck paddling in a bidet, and a brick of frozen soup that doubles as a sandbag for unlucky pedestrians below.
  12. Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    Intermittently hilarious.
  13. Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    70
    Mines the comic possibilities of the classic setup of introducing the fiancé to the family, with results that are playful, charming and surprisingly thoughtful.
  14. Reviewed by: Laura Kern
    70
    A vigorously paced modern screwball comedy written and directed by the husband-and-wife team Dominic Harari and Teresa De Pelegrí, explores family values, and Leni and Rafi's mismatched cultural backgrounds, with a refreshingly light touch.
  15. Only Human, a Spanish farce, has absolutely no business being as laugh-out-loud funny as it often is.
  16. 67
    Despite a strong start, Only Human loses its grip on all that merry energy and comes to feel more like a sitcom than like "Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown" or "Some Like It Hot," to name just some of its forebears.
  17. Don't expect a meaningful resolution, just a bouncy comedy with some hilarious moments in the stray ricochets.
  18. 63
    Unfortunately, the film is also at times dull, though the scale definitely tilts toward enjoyment. Quality balance aside, who doesn't want to enjoy a few hearty laughs? Only Human provides a few of those.
  19. Reviewed by: Joshua Katzman
    60
    Toledo is very funny, and there are some hilarious comic bits, but writer-directors Dominic Harari and Teresa Pelegri drag in several distracting subplots, turning this 2004 Spanish comedy into a scattershot affair.
  20. 58
    For a film that pads out such broad slapstick with toilet humor, obnoxious-child antics, and even cute-animal business, Only Human is surprisingly enjoyable, thanks to the filmmakers' relatively low-key, Pedro Almodóvar-style approach.
  21. Attempts to achieve a Pedro Almodovar-level of humor without much success... Degenerating into witless slapstick.
User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. JamesR.
    9
    Amusing, sometimes silly, the movie has a sweet heart. One of the best comedies I have seen this year.
  2. ChadS.
    5
    The Israeli/Palestinian couple in "Only Human" reminds me of Hannity(prom king) and Colmes(band geek). Leni(Marian Aguilera) is much better looking than her fiance, Rafi(Guillermo Toledo), which makes the film seem predisposed towards the Israelis(like how the FOX show is slanted towards the conservative side). Without meaning to, the filmmakers reveal their bias. An early scene, in which Rafi accidentally "kills" the patriarch, is going to be less funny if you think the filmmakers aren't apolitical. In a discussion about past fiances(presumably all Israelis), Tania(Maria Botto) tells Leni that she thinks Rafi is ugly. And Leni agrees. Aside from the film's political minefield, "Only Human" also suffers from editing incoherence. All of a sudden, the father is up on his feet; and we're not sure if he picked himself off from the street, or escaped from a hospital. Full Review »
  3. Mase
    7
    Darker spanish version of Meet the Parents. Wittier but without the bellylaughs. Only truely funny in whisps, the slapstick scenes fall shorter than it's american cousin. However there are some great characters here. I could watch actress Norma ALeandro as mama GLoria all day. She could teach STreisand a thing or two. Full Review »