52
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertHere is a film about African Americans that sidesteps all the usual, hopeful cliches and comments on how one failed generation raises another.
- 75Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanCharlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanThe big names in the cast add atmosphere in small doses, especially when Haysbert and Glover combine.
- 63Slant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundSlant MagazineR. Kurt OsenlundAs a film that largely works as a subdued twist on the familiar drama about crime and family, LUV needed more intimacy and focus.
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsChicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAn uneven but strongly acted debut feature from co-writer and director Sheldon Candis.
- 50VarietyRobert KoehlerVarietyRobert KoehlerHeartfelt and formulaic in equal measure.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyEven if some of them are playing hackneyed gangster-film types, the strength of the actors makes it almost possible to forgive the formulaic plotting and artificially movie-ish developments. Candis and Justin Wilson's screenplay stretches credibility thinner and thinner as the story advances.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayCandis and Wilson sandbag their actors with dialogue that's a mix of dull exposition and pulp clichés, and rarely natural-sounding or colorful.
- 40Time OutEric HynesTime OutEric HynesWith its rock-skimming male bonding alternating between grisly homicides and a florid Mexican standoff that begets a tidy take-the-money-and-run finale, this tale seems less timely than merely tall.
- 40Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonAlthough Common and Rainey make a well-matched duo, their chemistry is frequently squandered by a script that boxes them into impossible roles in one clichéd scene after another.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanThe first half of the movie is painfully tense, drawing us into a relationship that we desperately want to see work. But the screenplay lets its characters down, as it devolves into platitudes and melodrama.