Life or Something Like It
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: April 26, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
31
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
9
Negative:
18
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The result is a worthy woman's film and Jolie's best showcase to date. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Manages to squeeze by on Angelina Jolie's surprising flair for self-deprecating comedy. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
It's dispiriting to see Jolie wasting herself (and a good supporting cast) on a story that requires little more than an average pretty actress who can wear clothes well and laugh and cry on cue. Read full review
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's cheerful nonsense from blithe beginning to obvious end. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Affable, but, as something with more ambition, it disappoints. Herek has once again found the feel-good path to mediocrity. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Amiably glossy if naggingly old-fashioned. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldCharles Savage
Pseudo-profound fluff. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Life at least deserves a nod for supplying the mostly dramatic actress with her first starring comedic role. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
If the heroine really had seven days left, she wouldn't waste it watching stuff like this. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
This is an excellent movie for watching Jolie, one of the more entertaining sidelines in recent Hollywood movie going. There are two firsts for her here: Angelina does blonde and, more importantly, Angelina does comedy. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A banal message movie. Read full review
40
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Dimly entertaining, the sort of thing that doesn't insult you so much that you feel compelled to flee the theater, but it's too inert to be anything close to charming or compelling. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
A deeply metaphysical film by contempo Hollywood standards, this middlebrow trifle may engage the emotions of a certain tier of young professional women. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Jolie hogs the spotlight as usual, leaving romantic interest Ed Burns struggling to register and only Shaloub -- fetid, dirty, soulful -- with his dignity intact. Read full review
38
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Partly a schmaltzy, by-the-numbers romantic comedy, partly a shallow rumination on the emptiness of success -- and entirely soulless. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The movie creaks and groans, weighed down by clichés.
38
USA TodayMike Clark
Life is a crock -- or something like it. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The relentless upbeatness of Life or Something Like It wrecks the possibility of either real laughter or genuine pathos. Read full review
30
SlateDavid Edelstein
This mad prophet says it will die in a week. Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
It's difficult to concentrate on the story. Not that there's much to concentrate on anyway. Read full review
30
Film ThreatMichael Dequina
Director Stephen Herek certainly doesn't come up with anything, and he fails to make the swings between silliness and schmaltz smoothly. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Mostly about slapping together a bunch of clichés -- outdated clichés at that -- regarding the loneliness of ambitious women. Read full review
25
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
This film about a career gal's date with fate careers out of control. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
To top it off, the ending is a clumsy cheat. Of course, I was rooting for the news gal to expire and the film to die a quick death.
25
Boston GlobeRenee Graham
Delivered with all the subtlety of a steel-toe boot, you may be galled that you've wasted nearly two hours of your own precious life with this silly little puddle of a movie. Read full review
25
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
This is an ungainly movie, ill-fitting, with its elbows sticking out where the knees should be. To quote another ancient proverb, "A camel is a horse designed by a committee." Life or Something Like It is the movie designed by the camel. Read full review
20
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
Say what you want about Hollywood losing its way in recent years, there's something beautiful about moviemakers who paint themselves into corners this tight.
20
TV Guide MagazineSteve Simels
The truth of the matter is that, given the thoroughly manipulative, red-herring plot twists that get her to the happy ending, most audience members will have ceased to care about whether she lives or dies long before the matter is settled onscreen. Read full review
20
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
Cloaks a familiar anti-feminist equation (career - kids = misery) in tiresome romantic-comedy duds. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJoshua Rothkopf
In the hands of Preston Sturges, this could have been the basis for some snappy mordant comedy, but Stephen Herek (Mr. Holland's Opus) sees only fields of corn, winding up with one of those pseudodeep stories (e.g. American Beauty) that Hollywood takes for spiritual. Read full review
10
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Oh, please. Stop and smell the manure. Read full review
0
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Every now and then, though, a movie comes up with a scene of surpassing stupidity, and then builds from that defining moment to a climax of perfect ineptitude. Life or Something Like It is such an achievement.
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