Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School

Washington Post Sarah Kaufman

This film does other power-of-dance movies one better by downplaying the dancing and underscoring what its brethren often lack: a compelling, wrenching and wonderfully inspiring story.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Tasha Robinson

As absorbingly weird and dark and sad as the film becomes, it still labors against jumpy construction, an irritating variety of visual styles and film stocks, and a crowded story that no one gets much individual screen time, which means that redemption for everyone comes far too quickly and neatly.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Expanded by writer-director Randall Miller from a nostalgic half-hour short he made while a student at AFI, this well-intentioned film about loss, grief and new beginnings gets bogged down in syrupy cliches and blunt self-help dialogue.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The movie delivers the promised ballroom action, but not the charm. And if you think the title is endless, wait till you see Goodman's death scene.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Overall it's got two left feet - and charm is in dangerously short supply.

The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg

The film is an elegiac journey to a sweeter, more civilized place in the heart. Predictable and decidedly old-fashioned in its sensibility, the film is likely to win over audiences if not critics.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Really, about all that unifies the movie is its inclination to turn little people's dreams into limply ''affectionate'' camp.

Chicago Tribune Sid Smith

Too cute, too transparent, too precious and ultimately too much.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The adults at the Hotchkiss reunion are played by an assortment of splendid actors.

USA Today Claudia Puig

The story is corny and predictable, but Carlyle's subtle, nuanced performance saves the movie from drowning in sentimentality.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

I wish I could say there is something pleasurable in watching John Goodman reminisce about the good old days while impaled on a steering wheel in the Volvo he's crashed on a California freeway, but I can't find what it is.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Three movies gasp for life inside the clumsily titled Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This has its moments, but most of these are engulfed by the overall murk.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Despite a gloriously baroque performance from Mr. Wahlberg - attempting moves certified only for Antonio Banderas - Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School remains irredeemably soggy.

Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton

Several steps shy of a satisfying lesson.

Miami Herald Peter Debruge

Amounts to Chicken Soup for the Soul-style torture -- unless you like that kind of thing.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

This flat-footed male weepie musters an insurance ad's worth of clichés about the importance of busting a move in middle age-and it strains so hard to do so that it's almost perversely compelling.

LA Weekly Robert Abele

It's all a treacly, shoddily assembled, underwritten mess.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

An attempt at a beautiful film about renewal -- about past love, love lost, longing and rediscovery -- but it has no emotional truth.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Juggles three separate time periods -- and is completely formulaic in each one.