Two Family House
Metascore
79 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
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  1. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    100
    It's the kind of small but amazing character study (think ``Marty'') that film lovers yearn for while griping that this type of picture no longer gets made. Turns out it does.
  2. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    100
    Well-acted, lovingly put together and heartbreakingly honest.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    91
    The charm and art of De Felitta's gentle domestic sketch expand far beyond biographical borders.
  4. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    90
    A fairy tale that presents love as a case of mutual enchantment, Two Family House is not only uniformly well acted, superbly designed, lovingly lit, and sensitively scored, it's as romantic as it is funny.
  5. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Ernest Hardy
    90
    An unassuming little film that packs a huge emotional and artistic punch.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Van Gelder
    90
    Experience filmgoing joy.
  7. Slate
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    90
    Beat by beat, scene by scene, gorgeous...at times emotionally devastating.
  8. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Kimberley Jones
    89
    It's all about the little things, and the way in which the little things can steal into your heart in big ways.
  9. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    A touching and effective film.
  10. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    83
    In the face of intolerance, Two Family House lovingly celebrates the triumph of love and acceptance over prejudice.
  11. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    80
    A sentimental slice of 1950s Italian-American life that doesn't soft-pedal its characters' simmering prejudices within their insulated community, or pander to their dreams of getting out.
  12. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Charles Taylor
    80
    The epitome of the small, character-driven film that the indie movement was supposed to champion before it became a hip mirror of the Hollywood star system.
  13. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ron Stringer
    80
    Tenderhearted Staten Island Christmas comedy.
  14. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    80
    Writer-director Raymond De Felitta creates something wonderfully funny and touching.
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  15. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    A film of rare, delicate sensibility.
  16. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    80
    For all the pic’s sentimentality, De Felitta refuses to back away from some unpleasantly realistic touches.
  17. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    80
    The story, which deals straightforwardly with racism, miscegenation, adultery and consumerism, is a fascinating combination: a movie with an almost Capraesque heart and pristine, almost stagey lighting schemes, that addresses uncomfortable moral issues with today's perspectives.
  18. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Brimming over with affection and humanity, this memory drama about the destruction of one family and the birth of another is nostalgic in a good sense: funny, bittersweet, poignant.
  19. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    De Felitta dodges the temptations of sentiment and preachiness.
  20. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    75
    A gentle, soulful comedy about everyday dreams and what it takes to make them come true.
  21. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Foreman
    75
    A charming, (mostly) briskly unsentimental love story, written, directed and acted with remarkable assurance.
  22. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    De Felitta has taken potentially overripe material and given it real heart.
  23. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    75
    A tender and affirmative movie, if never a transporting one.
  24. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Joshua Katzman
    70
    Writer-director Raymond De Felitta has crafted a pleasant, low-key script that's full of small surprises, nice turns, and engaging, naturalistic dialogue, and he keeps the big, emotional family scenes, which often render this sort of material cliched and hackneyed, to a minimum.
  25. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    63
    Sweet-natured but overdone, over-long film.
  26. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    63
    Worth staying with for the respect it pays to its characters' emotions.
  27. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Frank Lovece
    40
    Bighearted and wistful, but with no fresh spin or anything new to say.
  28. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    40
    The sappy trappings that director Raymond De Felitta piles onto the burgeoning romance story line kills any spark that remains, despite the best efforts of the cast to keep it real.

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No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 2
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 2
  3. Negative: 0 out of 2
  1. [Anonymous]
    9
    Very appealing flick.
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