Metascore

Overwhelming dislike - based on 8 Critics What's this?

User Score

Universal acclaim- based on 13 Ratings

  • Summary: A sincere, insightful and unapologetically frank romantic comedy about a man who finds out, during the course of one very important night in his life, what love truly is. (Big Sky Motion Pictures)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 7 out of 8
  1. Reviewed by: Josh Rosenblatt
    67
    In its own peculiar way, What Love Is is a testament to the redemptive power of words. Thankfully, Callahan knows to keep it short and sweet, lest his audience go mad from the noise.
  2. Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    30
    Picture looks and sounds like an Off Off Broadway play.
  3. Romantic comedies should never be this exhausting. Despite a few good zingers, Mars Callahan's vitriolic take on the sexes sinks under the weight of its secondhand psychobabble and smug apercus.

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. TonyW.
    10
    Very funny, fast, with a message.
  2. HondoJ.
    10
    Auteur Mars Callahan has created a one-of-a-kind hilarious romp through the pitfalls of commitment. "What Love Is" manages to remain true to the rom-com form while at the same time avoiding the sappy cliches. The marvelous Matthew Lillard, last seen in a low-key turn as Shaggy in the Scooby Doo series, is alternately charming and menacing as the required best friend, and Anne Heche is breathtaking as the always-a-bridesmaid-never-a-bride older sister. Callahan's script operates at a breakneck pace, bringing to mind classics such as "The Philadelphia Story" and "Adam's Rib," appropriate since Gina Gershon reveals herself to be the next Katharine Hepburn. If you ask this reviewer "What Love Is," he'll tell you: the odds-on favorite for Oscar glory so far. Expand
  3. JohnS.
    10
    I got the message of the movie. I can see how most people won't. 95% of the world has no idea what love really is and if you have no idea what it is then you probably won't recognize it when you see it. Most people believe that love is what they feel for a person. Love is not about what you feel. It is how you want the person you love to feel. When you care about another person more than you care about yourself then that is Love and that is the message in this movie. Like most people feel for their children, most people would rather die before allowing harm to their child. Expand
  4. JayH.
    3
    Way too yakky and tritely written, at times abrasive as well as stereotypical. The acting isn't too bad, but it seems like a stage play. A waste of some good talent. Expand

See all 6 User Reviews

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