67
Metascore
35 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 87The VergeTasha RobinsonThe VergeTasha RobinsonBrigsby Bear holds together because it’s so flawlessly navigated and so utterly sincere. James has his ups and downs, but they aren’t manipulative, cheap, or calculated.
- 83ConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerConsequenceDominick Suzanne-MayerBrigsby Bear offers a touching and daringly unconventional reminder of how no approach to filmmaking is inherently bad with the right mind at the helm.
- 80VarietyGeoff BerkshireVarietyGeoff BerkshireRather than milking the outre premise for broad comedy, everyone involved strives to keep the characters and situations grounded and warm.
- 70We Got This CoveredJordan RuimyWe Got This CoveredJordan RuimyAlthough the film flies off the rails in its climax, the rest of Brigsby Bear is an outrageous concept that’s pulled off quite well.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeKyle Mooney (a longtime McCary collaborator on Saturday Night Live and elsewhere) is winning in the lead role, naive but not cartoonishly so in a film that walks a fine line, credibility-wise.
- 70Screen DailyTim GriersonScreen DailyTim GriersonGradually, the movie becomes a compassionate but constructive commentary on the danger of nostalgia — how it seduces us into sticking with worn-out pleasures at the expense of new experiences and challenges.
- 63Slant MagazinePeter GoldbergSlant MagazinePeter GoldbergThe film has such a goofy sense of humor and affection for its premise that its uneven narrative is sometimes only as frustrating as a little static on an old VHS.
- 60TheWrapRobert AbeleTheWrapRobert AbeleIts low-gear celebration of fandom-inspired ingenuity, and belief in the power of creating as a reparative balm, earns it enough well-deserved smiles when things fall predictably into place in the latter stages.
- 58The Film StageJordan RaupThe Film StageJordan RaupDave McCary’s directorial debut is a film of imagination, adventure, and discovery, but also one too hesitant to challenge in its tone, traveling down a tiresome path of tropes.
- 42IndieWireDavid EhrlichIndieWireDavid EhrlichWhile too silly and open hearted to hate, Brigsby Bear begins with a premise that’s weird enough to be good, but settles for a weak trajectory that isn’t good enough to be weird.