A standard-issue family reunion dramedy, The Hollars has several genuine moments of human interaction.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 15, 2016

Krasinski, who also directed the film, may have spread himself too thin; there's a desperation about the closing scenes, cluttered as they are with bouncy pop songs on the soundtrack.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 15, 2016

Opening with a promising first act comprising well-observed, edgy humor, the film ends with an overdose of treacle so syrupy, so pungent, it will unsettle the strongest tummy.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 8, 2016

Jenkins and Martindale, both old hands at this sort of "dramedy" material, come through for Krasinski as the story darkens in the second half.

| Sep 1, 2016

"The Hollars" is an uneven, ineffective and self-conscious dysfunctional family comedy/drama with a Sundance-y vibe, and scene after scene in which the greatly talented and usually quite likable cast members keep stepping in big piles of wrong choices.

| Original Score: 1.5/4 | Sep 1, 2016

If Krasinski relates in any significant way to his character's self-doubt, you wouldn't know it from the movie, on which he does confident double duty as director.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 1, 2016

"The Hollars" drives inexorably to a conclusion that feels as manipulatively mawkish as it is impossibly tidy, typical of a genre that too often tries to have it both ways.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 1, 2016

If there were such a thing as a paint-by-numbers kit to create an indie flick, the end result would look something like this.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 1, 2016

The film struggles so hard to be funny that the comic potential is diluted. In fact, sometimes it seems downright bland.

| Original Score: 1/4 | Aug 31, 2016

The kind of toothless and emotionally counterfeit cancer dramedy that gives America's independent cinema a bad name.

| Original Score: D+ | Aug 27, 2016

Though he's collected a pretty stellar ensemble, Krasinski's execution lacks nuance, leaning hard into theatrical performances that undercut big emotional beats.

| Aug 26, 2016

Krasinski has fashioned one of the better films to view this summer, underscored by the performances of a dream cast...

| Aug 26, 2016

Is The Hollars an original, breathtaking dramedy that says anything new about middle-class suburbia and family? No. But with a brisk runtime and a terrific cast, it's a pleasant and bittersweet look at one family struggling to keep it together.

| Original Score: B | Aug 26, 2016

The Hollars is just good enough to make you wish that it were better.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 26, 2016

The prospect of life and death - all at once - as a time to take stock, shake self-doubt and to man up is an idea worth exploring. But "The Hollars" rings hollow.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 26, 2016

The film's ruefully honest tone is periodically drowned out by the blare of stagey coincidences.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Aug 25, 2016

Feels more like Hollywood Game Night than a family dramedy.

| Aug 25, 2016

The swirl of anxiety plays out too patly in Jim Strouse's script, but the performers, especially Ms. Martindale and the jittery Mr. Copley, keep it enjoyable, even touching at times.

| Aug 25, 2016

Krasinski directs with humor and compassion. And Margo Martindale proves again that she is one of the best actors on the planet.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 25, 2016

John Krasinski directed and stars in The Hollars, which belongs to a genre I rather like: the small family comedy about the city kid who comes home when something happens to a family member, and then learns some Life Lessons.

| Aug 25, 2016