Fantasticks, The

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Manages to honor the theatricality of the source yet becomes a fully cinematic experience. A gem.

Austin Chronicle Robert Faires

It has that bygone style, in which impossibly innocent ingenues suddenly break into blissfully tuneful song.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

Has slow patches and requires a generous suspension of disbelief. But it's also sweet and optimistic -- a welcome antidote to gloom.

TNT RoughCut Andy Klein

Scrappy, sappy, and appealing.

LA Weekly Chuck Wilson

This is the first Broadway-sourced movie musical in umpteen years, and you should see it, because the score is gorgeous.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

Fans starving for some song and dance celluloid may be satiated, but this movie version really shows the material's age.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

A brave but ultimately futile attempt at adapting a piece that is so quintessentially theatrical that it defies translation to another medium.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

Although dated, it's not a bad musical.

San Francisco Examiner Walter Addiego

It seems like another misstep - the story just doesn't hold up to Ritchie's treatment.

Film.com Elizabeth Weitzman

A sweet, if slender, surprise.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The deliberate simplicity that works so well at the Sullivan Street Theater seems flat, anachronistic and almost spooky on the big screen.

TV Guide Angel Cohn & Lauren Kane

While the cast and songs are top notch, the predictability of the madness makes it pretty clear that this musical shouldn't have left the stage

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Shot five years ago by director Michael Ritchie. No release until now. Uh-oh. Disaster? Pretty much.

Variety Scott Foundas

The resulting film is one of too much reverence and not enough satire.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The movie version overflows with affection and good intention, but unwittingly turns a bauble of cheerful fakery into something that mostly feels phony.