Brothers McMullen, The

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Burns has created an endearing gathering of people we all know, and every one of them is so much fun that leaving the theater at the end elicits a touch of regret.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

While other films struggle for their effects, Brothers simply lives and breathes, thoroughly likable from beginning to end.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

One of the most enjoyable experiences of the year.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Good old-fashioned virtues of three-dimensional characters, fine dialogue, recognizable life situations and meat-and-potatoes content.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

This modest, enormously likable film, about love and temptation and ties that bind, is about brotherhood most of all. [9 August 1995, p.C9]

Austin Chronicle Alison Macor

It is a rare treat of a film.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

You don't have to be Catholic, or Irish, or even American, to "get it." Burns' language, despite originating on Long Island, is universal in appeal and meaning.

Film.com Ed Brubaker

It's old-fashioned filmmaking, and more people should do it.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The women's characters are as well drawn as the men's in a splendidly acted film that captures the confusion of love in ways that are ardent, affecting and wonderfully funny.

Film.com Tom Keogh

A smart marriage of modest technical ambition, sophisticated material, and a hang-loose presentation that belies the production's no-frills sacrifices.

USA Today Mike Clark

This meaty Irish stew isn't arty or elliptical. It ought to connect with anyone who's survived sibling tension or romantic fence-sitting. [9 August 1995, Life, p.5D]

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The movie brings into focus how rare religion and spirituality are in American films.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A clever, amiably low-key mix of family drama and romantic comedy.[18 August 1995, Friday, p.C]

Film.com John Hartl

It's not a profound film, but it is heartfelt, and Burns has done his best to keep it clear and emotionally direct.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

This knowing, low-budget comedy will appeal to men, who'll recognize their behavior, but also to women, who'll see it as goosing the gander.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

The romantic troubles of three Irish-Catholic brothers on Long Island don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Respectable by the tube's standards, even a cut above dumbed-down Hollywood, but hardly the stuff of creative renewal.

TV Guide Staff (not credited)

Solid, old-fashioned narrative moviemaking with just enough no-budget cachet to disguise its essential blandness.

Mr. Showbiz Anne Harris

This is, recognizably, an indie film, in the best sense of the term.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

If you want to waste a couple of hours, you can surely do much better looking elsewhere.