Jersey GirlMovie Reviews

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So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 43 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
15 Iffy for 15+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 88
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    Liv Tyler is a very particular talent who has sometimes been misused by directors more in love with her beauty than with her appropriateness for their story. Here she is perfectly cast. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Mike Clark

    Smith is looking more and more like a developing major talent, so it could be years until we get a handle on this movie's legacy. The film is not only defensible as a cute one-shot, but also as a positive sign for the future. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Kirk Honeycutt

    Smith stumbles setting up dramatic confrontations and strains credibility a time or two with implausible moments. Read full review

  • 50
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    Affleck is modest and engaging, which keeps the movie out of "Gigli" territory. But it's close. Read full review

  • 50
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    A bland slab of sentimental hokum that proves even the most smart-alecky of indie auteurs can turn warm and fuzzy on occasion. Read full review

  • 50
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    The film's overall construction is faulty. Its dramatic situations ring consistently false, and the story is phony as anything off the Hollywood assembly line. And yet, it's sincere phony. Read full review

  • 42
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    For some four fifths of its length, Jersey Girl is as square as a turnpike-diner place mat. Read full review

  • 30
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    The filmmaker drowns his trademark edgy stew of smutty humor, stiff acting and dime-store insight into human nature with a gravy of glutinous bathos, making for a singularly unpalatable dish. Read full review

  • 30
    Los Angeles Times | Kenneth Turan

    Despite that frisson of naughtiness and the occasional smile, Jersey Girl is overall too bland to hold our interest. Read full review

  • 20
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    Sadly, Mr. Smith has made a movie so false and blatantly icky that it's the film equivalent of making goo-goo noises and chucking a baby under the chin for 103 minutes. At the end, all you're left with is drool and a mountain of baby powder. Read full review

View more reviews for Jersey Girl on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says Iffy for 15+ Formulaic script and uneven tone. Disappointing.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that this movie has very strong language and sexual references for a PG-13. Ollie and Maya talk about pornography and masturbation and she offers him a "pity jump." Ollie walks in on Gertie and a friend playing doctor and Gertie walks in on Ollie and Maya in the shower (with clothes on). There is brief diaper humor. Characters drink and smoke (references to alcohol abuse) and there is a cocaine joke.
  • Families can talk about how they balance their family and work responsibilities. What are some of Ollie's alternatives? Do you think Ollie is a good father? Do you think Bart is a good father? Sometimes families are made up of people who are related to each other, and sometimes they are made up of people who just care about each other -- do you agree?
What to watch for
  • violence false3 Violence: Very sad death.
  • sex false4 Sex: Very explicit sexual references for a PG-13.
  • language false3 Language: Some strong language.
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Not an issue
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Drinking and smoking, cocaine joke.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Jersey Girl Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

So-so 4 fan reviews

Critics say

So-so See all critic reviews

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