Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

BroadcastChic Excellent, a Must See

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Phillim I give everything a ten, because I can't figure the equation to score a film with a number. That said, every film has its league -- this one is in the minors, as it aims to be. Lifetime Channel stuff at heart, it has a fine cast doing very good work.Comedian Nick Kroll wrote the story, and would have done better to let an actor play the lead. His comic timing is good, and his sad-sack persona is likable and generally works here, but is one-note. Actors know to avoid the mimetic fallacy: i.e., not to make the fundamental mistake of assuming a 'shallow' character has no depth. (This is an actor committing character suicide -- the blankness becomes a repetitive chore for an audience to suffer.)There is very good, very honest work in this film from Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale. Excellent low-humor cameo by Bobby Moynihan. The little kid is great. Sufficient laughs in a not-bad script.Listen, I admire that anybody gets a career in show business. This project looks to be mostly sincere and doesn't suck completely, and Kroll is funny in the TV 'Roasts', so, since it's free to do so, I give it a ten.

Andrew Gold I really enjoyed Adult Beginners for about the first hour. I was surprised at its score and reception because it was one of the more realistic dramedies about family life and adulthood I've seen in recent memory. The characters felt real, the chemistry was phenomenal, I cared about what was happening, and it was nice to see Nick Kroll playing the straight everyman for once. As great as Kroll was, he didn't quite carry the movie as much as the supporting cast did. Rose Byrne and Bobby Cannavale are fantastic as Kroll's sister and her husband (and their chemistry is palpable, given they're a couple in real life), and they play off Kroll's deadpan humor with sincerity and ease. It was great to see Kroll's character having to redo his entire life, then crashing his sister's place and having to adjust to this family-centered lifestyle. It was honest and heartfelt, and there are moments between Kroll and Cannavale (who plays the brother-in-law) that are genuinely deep and thought provoking. I wanted more of that.The humor is intermittent. It's not really a laugh-out-loud comedy despite what you might think with this cast. It's far more subdued and dramatic than a typical Nick Kroll vehicle, and it worked. For a while, anyway. The last 30 minutes of this movie felt like the writers tried to tie the movie up in a pretty pink bow as quickly as possible and call it a day. It was so rushed and half-hearted, leaving interesting subplots by the wayside and throwing this faux happily-ever-after ending that completely detracts from the overall tone. Everything is well-paced and subtle before then, taking you along for the ride and keeping you strapped in for every awkward situation or heartfelt moment, but the ending makes it all for nothing. It's like, "That's it? What happened to everything else I just saw?" The authenticity went out the window.Having said that, Adult Beginners is very relatable. These feel like real people going through real life crises, and each of the main characters have depth and character flaws that you want to be explored. Some of them are, some aren't. Overall though, I enjoyed this movie for what it was, and if you don't mind a lame ending, I think it's definitely worth a watch.

zif ofoz After watching this flick I kept trying to figure out its message ... because it came across to me as a message type story. Well I came up with many messages. The main message being - "family first" - maybe?The script is first class, the acting is just fine, the music, sets, editing is wonderful. But at movies end you feel a bit lost. The only weak point in the story is when Jake tells his sister about her husbands secret, it seemed a bit forced and contrived. The argument just doesn't hold up to support Jake spilling the beans!And what about Justine's job? That issue just fades away when Jake moves back into the city for his new job. There just isn't enough foundation on each character to hold the story together.Jake and Justine are victims of loosing something that they held dear in their lives. Plus Jake looses out professionally and Justine looses her image of her husband. And at end it just doesn't come together. But it's not a bad movie.

Mike Bear This movie is a piece of $#!%. No seriously, it looks like Nick Kroll watched "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" (2006), "Death at a Funeral" (2007), "Dan in Real Life" (2007), "Flashbacks of a Fool" (2008), "This Is Where I Leave You" (2014), "The Judge" (2014), etc... .. and made a decision like "Hey! Now it is my time to make a serious Drama!""Adult Beginners" (2014) also a "Comedy", but I am still not understand where is a jokes and on what I need to laugh!? Maybe on scenes in a swimming pool (but I do not think that women with a kids who have a lessons are funny and can be as an objects for jokes), on playground (where I had a strong feeling that jokes were written by "Lloyd and Harry" from the movie "Dumb & Dumber" (1994)) or conversation in a toilet!? I think Nick Kroll must add small brochure to his movie with description where we must laugh and perhaps same for sadness because this movie also a "Drama". .. ... ..