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75Marshall has an astounding instinct for popular entertainment. He's done it again with The Other Sister.
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50Falls into a familiar trap, resembling a neatly wrapped made-for-TV homily. [26 February 1999, Friday, p.A]
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50Skillfully acted, idealized, uneven.
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50Neutralizes these characters, makes them cute and one-dimensional like fluffy dolls.
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50Consider The Other Sister emotional quicksand. [26 February 1999, Life, p.5E]
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50The movie is, however, generous in its condescension: Given enough tolerance, cash and a good sex manual, it says, even the mentally handicapped can be just as middle-class and cute as you or me.
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50Attempting to force the story into a romantic comedy template compels Marshall to gloss over the disturbing aspects his characters' disabilities, frequently forcing Ribisi and Lewis to act the part of noble fools.
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50A sweet, at times cloying confection enlivened by strong performances in the central roles.
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40What redeems the film…are its three outstanding performances.
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40The humor works beautifully until Marshall decides to beat the comedy over the head and drum us, once again, with this relentless message: "Mentally challenged people in love say the darndest things!"
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40Oscillates bewilderingly between contrived and insightful, mechanical and sincere, clumsy and graceful.
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38Two agonizing hours of lifeless, mind-numbing hogwash.
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30There's little to recommend this movie, which is part and parcel with Marshall's schlock-dominated body of work.
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30The Other Sister is sanctimonious, sanitized fare primarily preoccupied with patting its own back and plucking our heartstrings.
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25Shameless in its use of mental retardation as a gimmick, a prop and a plot device. Anyone with any knowledge of retardation is likely to find the film offensive.
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Still, there's no mistaking the central message: Slow people have much to teach us. Or is it: Slow people -- aren't they funny? Either way, it's pretty vile stuff.
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20I'm going to beat my head into a wall until I relieve myself of the memory of this film that was, well, retarded.
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20Plunging headfirst into mush at every opportunity, Marshall brings out the worst in his actors.
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20By coddling viewers and micromanaging our responses, The Other Sister shows almost as little respect for the audience as Elizabeth does for her feisty, underappreciated daughter.
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It's not the emphasis on tics and grimaces that mars their essentially well-meaning performances, it’s the sitcom crassness of director and co-writer Garry Marshall.
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0Contrived, clueless, reprehensible.