Invisible Circus, The

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Even at her most nihilistic, Cameron Diaz is about as menacing as a boozy college cheerleader.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

It's a shameless don't-hate-me-because-I'm-beautiful-and-impulsive performance (Diaz), and it throws the entire movie out of balance.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

The script hits rough patches, especially when Phoebe and Wolf get it on, but the sisters cut to the heart.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

This modest project is all about atmosphere and reflection, and, as such, it is successful.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

In its attempts to chart a young girl's journey from innocence to experience, The Invisible Circus ends up having all the heft of a Nancy Drew mystery decked out in a tie-dyed T-shirt and peasant skirt.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Diaz is quite believable in the part, and gets solid support from Brewster, who is even more appealing as the adoring, wounded and somewhat vacuous younger sister.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Unfortunately, The Invisible Circus, which follows Phoebe as she retraces her dead sibling's steps from Paris to Berlin to the coast of Portugal, doesn't so much illuminate Phoebe's confusion as share it.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

The director Adam Brooks adapted The Invisible Circus from Jennifer Egan's subtle, evocative novel of the same name. But Brooks has been unable to replicate Egan's skill in keeping a clear eye on her story.

Slate David Edelstein

The film is overnarrated and in spots overwritten, but Brooks, who's primarily a screenwriter, does well with actors, and he has coaxed an extraordinary performance out of the young Jordana Brewster.

USA Today Susan Wloszczyna

This joyless coming-of-age travelogue is such a downer that not even breathtaking locales can provide a lift.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Yet another murky film about the 1970s that's watchable mostly for its cast rather than the story.

TV Guide Ken Fox

It's a far more interesting film; unfortunately, it's locked inside a maudlin coming-of-age story that barely registers.

Salon.com Charles Taylor

The Invisible Circus isn't junk. It's carefully, competently made, though with no particular feeling for technique or rhythm.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The revelations of The Invisible Circus don't justify the quest.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Something there is about the '60s that undoes the most intelligent of filmmakers.

Film.com Ernest Hardy

It's not bad; it's just completely inconsequential.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

When flashbacks tease us with bits of information, it has to be done well, or we feel toyed with. Here the mystery is solved by stomping in thick-soled narrative boots through the squishy marsh of contrivance.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Director and screenwriter Adam Brooks, adapting Jennifer Egan's novel, doesn't seem to understand what makes a movie relevant.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A fatally insubstantial film.

Chicago Tribune Mark Caro

When a movie is structured around the unveiling of secrets, you ought to care what the answers are. But writer-director Adam Brooks (Almost You), never offers any compelling reason to do so.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

A more intuitive writer-director could have extracted a credible study of time-warped bereavement from Jennifer Egan's extensively praised novel, but Adam Brooks's turgid adaptation merely emphasizes the book's stiff contrivances and wobbly characterizations.

Los Angeles Times John Anderson

There are any number of aspects to The Invisible Circus that simply don't ring true.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

In nearly every scene of her dangerously underwritten role, Diaz has a mouthful of cliches.