Architect, The

Premiere Aaron Hillis

A riveting urban drama that tackles a myriad of sociopolitical issues -- conflicts of race, sex, class, marriage and politics -- without spreading itself thin.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

In her (Viola Davis) umpteenth turn as a strong ghetto mother, she is the life force that lifts Matt Tauber's workaday movie The Architect into an experience to savor.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's a fairly well-written piece and an even better acted one. And these days, when independent films are increasingly the salvation of the serious American dramatic movie, it's heartening to see something like The Architect, which tries to reawaken a major American dramatic tradition and sometimes succeeds.

Boston Globe Michael Hardy

Perhaps urban-planning solutions are too much to expect from a Friday night at the movies, but in a film this ambitious, the evident lack of thought put into the problem is disappointing. As any architect knows, it's easier to tear down than to build up.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

There are too many characters undergoing life changes in the story for each to be properly developed in an 82-minute movie. But for the most part, the actors get the work done.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

LaPaglia and Davis deliver top-notch performances that go a long way toward offsetting the material's didacticism.

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

While it provides a sometimes thoughtful examination of modern sociological issues, The Architect unfortunately succumbs to melodrama in its depiction of its troubled characters.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Still feels stagebound, inert when it needs to be cinematic.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Despite an intriguing premise in which the architect of a housing project is confronted by a resident-turned-activist who wants his help in getting the place torn down, Matt Tauber's The Architect feels schematic and contrived.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Well-intentioned but obvious drama.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

It's a compact and symmetrical picture with all its plot points in the right places, but I never found it convincing in the slightest.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Deteriorates from a potentially enlightening exploration of urban development and class conflict into a preposterous melodrama.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Every character in The Architect is crazily stuccoed with crisis.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

The Architect wears its heavy social consciousness like an albatross, and Tauber's plodding, earnest direction does little to wean the material away from its stage roots.

Austin Chronicle Steve Davis

A movie designed without a proper foundation -- it feels as though it might crumble at any minute.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Though nothing much happens, all of the actors get to do lots of teary close-ups.