| 90 |
Salon Heather Havrilesky
There are elements of this new series that have a quirkiness that might seem deliberate or overly clever against a different backdrop, but that feels natural in its own gracefully odd environment. |
| 90 |
Time James Poniewozik
Secrets, threats, Viagra--Big Love was always going to be interesting TV, but what makes it first-rate drama is how confidently it moves past exoticism to the ordinary universals of family life. |
| 90 |
Wall Street Journal Dorothy Rabinowitz
Thoroughly sharp, seriously compelling. |
| 88 |
New York Post Linda Stasi
It's excellent on every level. |
| 88 |
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
Much of its strength comes from a group of actors so skilled that, like the ensemble on "The Sopranos," they draw us into the lives of their characters even if we don't initially want to go there. |
| 88 |
New York Daily News David Hinckley
"Big Love" sounds like a high-concept, comedic, intentionally sensational enterprise. Parts of "Big Love" are sensational, all right. But only in the best sense of the word. |
| 88 |
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
A very original, extremely well-acted and complexly written drama. |
| 83 |
Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
The casting is so good and the production design so sophisticated that the series' pull toward baroque psychosexual doings is, so far, pleasurable. [7 Apr 2006, p.51] |
| 80 |
Village Voice Joy Press
Big Love... is in no hurry to unfurl its plotlines or push its charms. Give it a couple of episodes, though, and you'll be snared. |
| 80 |
Variety Brian Lowry
Captivating. |
| 80 |
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
''Big Love,"... is layered enough to do what HBO's ''The Sopranos" and ''Six Feet Under" have done so well: make atypical heroes knowable and universal. It pulls us into its parallel moral universe, rather than keep us standing outside in judgment. |
| 80 |
Baltimore Sun David Zurawik
The acting is among the finest on television. |
| 80 |
LA Weekly Robert Abele
It’s something of a feat that the makers of Big Love are willing to put the ugly side of this phenomenon up against the mainstream sheen of Bill’s setup, and -- thanks in great part to the marvelous acting on display, from Paxton’s rugged haplessness to all three women’s unique variations on maternal stress and wifely sensuality -- still offer up a family to root for, warts and all. |
| 70 |
The New Yorker Nancy Franklin
For a lot of viewers “Big Love” is going to need time to settle in; it doesn’t have much dramatic texture until about the fifth episode. |
| 70 |
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
It is a series that boasts more than a few terrific performances, and yet it is surprisingly mellow, nearly devoid of the kinds of dramatic moments that resonate after the final credits roll. |
| 70 |
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
By the third episode... "Big Love" becomes an addictive treat. |
| 60 |
Washington Post Tom Shales
It's not an easy task to figure out where the thing is going, but it is intriguing watching it go there. |
| 60 |
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
By the end of the five episodes HBO sent for review, one's interest in the tangled future of this offbeat clan may be piqued, but be forewarned, it takes a while -- and there are a lot of petty spats and crying kids -- before one gets to that point. |
| 60 |
New York Magazine John Leonard
The first five hours feel more soapy than salacious. |
| 60 |
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
"Big Love" gets better and more compelling, once the plot thickens and the wives' personalities and conflicts take deeper form. |
| 60 |
TV Guide Matt Roush
More of a curiosity than a necessity. |
| 60 |
Newsday Diane Werts
[The episodes are] smarter than you might expect but not quite as clever as they work at being. Like the family unit it portrays, this dark/lighthearted drama tries to have everything at once and struggles under the far-reaching effort. |
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
Hopefully, the scriptwriting will improve and make better use of the cast, which is ripe for higher-quality material. |
| 50 |
USA Today Robert Bianco
From what I can tell, the goal of Love is to prove that life can be just as mundane, colorless and boring with three spouses as it can with one or none. Mission accomplished. |
| 50 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
Its impressive cast can't beef up the show's predictable conflicts and pedestrian secrets. |
| 40 |
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
There are good things in it, some well-written scenes and dynamic exchanges and excellent acting... But, ultimately, it doesn't cohere or quite convince. |
