One cannot help but be moved by Sympathy for Delicious and walk away with a personal sense of grace, no matter how small, along with the desire to be better.

| Nov 16, 2019

After working with some impressive filmmakers throughout his career, learning from the best, Ruffalo's effort is tremendously disappointing.

| Original Score: D+ | Nov 12, 2017

My impression of the film is that it was like watching a Flannery O'Connor dark comedy of the spirit where the priest-savior cannot find himself and the man-healer cannot cure himself.

| Jun 29, 2017

The movie presents its premise in a somewhat intriguingly unprepossessing way, but abandons any deeper exploration of its crisis of faith or, indeed, just human existence -- all to hopelessly middling effect.

| Original Score: C | May 21, 2011

The script would have better served the character of Delicious if his powers were "scientifically" explained.

| May 13, 2011

You can't make this stuff up. Or maybe you can, but you shouldn't.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | May 6, 2011

Good intentions and poor execution.

| Original Score: C | May 5, 2011

Once we get to the trial that kind of dominates the later part of the movie, I think it comes back and it refocuses on this dynamic between Thornton and Ruffalo who are incedently really good together.

| May 2, 2011

Mark Ruffalo is one of the best actors of his generation, and I'd like to be able to say that, with his directorial debut, Sympathy for Delicious, he's one of its best filmmakers, too. Alas, this semiexpressionist fantasia is a botch.

| Original Score: C- | Apr 29, 2011

Scattered drama about faith and poverty is intense.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 29, 2011

Interesting but never compelling...

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 29, 2011

As it builds, kind of epically, to a thoughtful conclusion, "Sympathy" appreciates the places we find after defeating our demons.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 29, 2011

Despite the powerful sense of place, "Sympathy for Delicious" unwinds a narrative thread that grows increasingly tattered and flimsy.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 28, 2011

These characters may serve an obscure metaphorical agenda, but they make no psychological sense. And as the movie contemplates the rewards and perils of giving and receiving, it winds itself into stomach-turning knots.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 28, 2011

Mark Ruffalo only gave himself a small part in his directorial debut, but his absence behind the camera is more keenly felt.

| Original Score: C+ | Apr 28, 2011

Messy, far-fetched rock drama with religious vibes, about a former DJ on L.A.'s skid row who emerges a healer, will go straight to the cut-out bin.

| Apr 27, 2011

The spiritual journey of a disabled turntable dj with a gift of healing from Skid Row to megabuck success as a member of a heavy metal band.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 27, 2011

A mess -- but a beautiful one, crammed with enough big ideas and outsize performances for three movies.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 27, 2011

Sympathy for Delicious is populated by so many good people who ought to be better that it's hard to ignore. But sympathy, for Delicious or anyone else, eludes me totally.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 27, 2011

An urban parable in the underlit indie tradition, Sympathy for Delicious treats sketchy, moribund storytelling as divine inspiration.

| Apr 26, 2011