Brian Case

"The plot is a muddle (...) Quaid is miles better than his material."  

"Mostly the picture is a damp squib, trite, preachy, and desperately sincere (...) The cast is appealing, particularly Stewart and Arthur, but it's not enough"  

"There is no story, no motor, and given the nature of the premise, nothing much can happen"  

"John Lone is superb (...) If spectacle finally triumphs over sympathy, it is not without a decent struggle."  

"The sets are variable but often unpleasant on the eye (...) Duff"  

"The finale will please nobody, and the songs are duff. That said, there are enough incidental felicities to pass the time pleasantly."  

"So duff that you wonder why they didn't ask Roger Moore to star"  

"Both actors get off on each other, improvising routines and inhabiting the standard Odd Couple teaming so interestingly that at times the film touches a profundity."  

"At last American cinema has done black music proud. Unforgettable."  

"Generally [it] sacrifices believability for the flourish, but it's an endearingly personal enterprise"  

"[Reid, Malkovich and Lang are] terrific, trapped in the hell of the unattainable American Dream (...) Hoffman hadn't been on the stage for 17 years, and it shows."  

"As English as it gets, this romantic comedy about a one-parent family is not without a modest charm."