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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Two Family House
Lions Gate Films Inc.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language and brief sexuality
Starring
Michael Rispoli,
Kelly MacDonald,
Kathrine Narducci,
and
Kevin Conway
The captivating and emotionally-charged story of a lovable loser in pursuit of his dream on Staten Island. (Lions Gate Films)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Raymond De Felitta
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Raymond De Felitta
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 29, 2001
Video: May 29, 2001
Theatrical: October 6, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
104 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
It's the kind of small but amazing character study (think ``Marty'') that film lovers yearn for while griping that this type of picture no longer gets made. Turns out it does.
100
Baltimore Sun
Chris Kaltenbach
Well-acted, lovingly put together and heartbreakingly honest.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
The charm and art of De Felitta's gentle domestic sketch expand far beyond biographical borders.
90
Slate
David Edelstein
Beat by beat, scene by scene, gorgeous...at times emotionally devastating.
90
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
An unassuming little film that packs a huge emotional and artistic punch.
90
The New York Times
Lawrence Van Gelder
Experience filmgoing joy.
90
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
A fairy tale that presents love as a case of mutual enchantment, Two Family House is not only uniformly well acted, superbly designed, lovingly lit, and sensitively scored, it's as romantic as it is funny.
89
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
It's all about the little things, and the way in which the little things can steal into your heart in big ways.
88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
A touching and effective film.
83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
In the face of intolerance, Two Family House lovingly celebrates the triumph of love and acceptance over prejudice.
80
LA Weekly
Ron Stringer
Tenderhearted Staten Island Christmas comedy.
80
Variety
Joe Leydon
For all the pic’s sentimentality, De Felitta refuses to back away from some unpleasantly realistic touches.
80
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Writer-director Raymond De Felitta creates something wonderfully funny and touching.
80
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
The epitome of the small, character-driven film that the indie movement was supposed to champion before it became a hip mirror of the Hollywood star system.
80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The story, which deals straightforwardly with racism, miscegenation, adultery and consumerism, is a fascinating combination: a movie with an almost Capraesque heart and pristine, almost stagey lighting schemes, that addresses uncomfortable moral issues with today's perspectives.
80
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
A sentimental slice of 1950s Italian-American life that doesn't soft-pedal its characters' simmering prejudices within their insulated community, or pander to their dreams of getting out.
80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
A film of rare, delicate sensibility.
75
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
A charming, (mostly) briskly unsentimental love story, written, directed and acted with remarkable assurance.
75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
De Felitta dodges the temptations of sentiment and preachiness.
75
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
A gentle, soulful comedy about everyday dreams and what it takes to make them come true.
75
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
A tender and affirmative movie, if never a transporting one.
75
San Francisco Examiner
Walter Addiego
De Felitta has taken potentially overripe material and given it real heart.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Brimming over with affection and humanity, this memory drama about the destruction of one family and the birth of another is nostalgic in a good sense: funny, bittersweet, poignant.
70
Chicago Reader
Joshua Katzman
Writer-director Raymond De Felitta has crafted a pleasant, low-key script that's full of small surprises, nice turns, and engaging, naturalistic dialogue, and he keeps the big, emotional family scenes, which often render this sort of material cliched and hackneyed, to a minimum.
63
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Worth staying with for the respect it pays to its characters' emotions.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Sweet-natured but overdone, over-long film.
40
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
The sappy trappings that director Raymond De Felitta piles onto the burgeoning romance story line kills any spark that remains, despite the best efforts of the cast to keep it real.
40
TV Guide
Frank Lovece
Bighearted and wistful, but with no fresh spin or anything new to say.
 The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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