Critic Reviews
Baxter, The (2005) Rank 2 Reviews
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based on (82) reviews
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Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
A tender love story and a dead-on lampoon of the genre, but its main drawback is that Showalter is egregiously miscast in the title role. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Los Angeles Times (Carina Chocano)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
This wry, low-key comedy, crafted by members of the sketch-comedy group The State, swims defiantly against the stream of contemporary comedy, eschewing bodily-function jokes and obvious gags in favor of laughs so sly and self-effacing you could almost ...read the complete Baxter movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
The New York Times (Dana Stevens)
In the end, The Baxter is a Baxter of a movie: well meaning and mildly likable, but unlikely to sweep you off your feet. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at The New York Times (Dana Stevens)
Slant Magazine
About.com (Jurgen Fauth)
Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
Reel.com (Tim Knight)
Boxoffice Magazine
Cinema Signals by The Filmiliar Cineaste
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
DVD Talk (Scott Weinberg)
Austin Chronicle (Kimberley Jones)
The film never recovers its initial fizzy-pop charms, owing largely to pacing that turns positively molasses-slow in the second act. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Austin Chronicle (Kimberley Jones)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Nathan Rabin)
That's ultimately the film's fatal flaw: it bumps Showalter's Baxter up to the role of the romantic lead without giving him an equivalent increase in complexity or depth. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Nathan Rabin)
Variety (John Anderson)
May find a following among those who stand in awe of the names Sandler, Ferrell and Spade. But Showalter pushes too far: Nerdiness, after all, can be only so attractive. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Variety (John Anderson)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
The problem with The Baxter is right there at the center of the movie, and maybe it is unavoidable: Showalter makes too good of a baxter. He deserves to be dumped. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
Michael Showalter is a funny man, but … how to put this gently … not a funny movie star. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Chicago Tribune (Allison Benedikt)
LA Weekly (Tim Grierson)
A movie filled with cardboard cutouts where the interesting characters ought to be. As a result, The Baxter is less engaging than the '40s screwball comedies (like The Philadelphia Story) that it's supposedly sending up, and not nearly as effervescent. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at LA Weekly (Tim Grierson)
One Guy's Opinion (Frank Swietek)
The Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt)
A wheel-spinner. The more the film stresses and strains to be funny, the unfunnier it gets. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at The Hollywood Reporter (Kirk Honeycutt)
Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
With The Baxter, Showalter's begging his way into the ranks of the safe and the mediocre. ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Premiere (Peter Debruge)
As coincidence would have it, Steve Carell's "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" spun comedy gold from a similar idea just last week. Virgin shares not only The Baxter's basic premise, but also two of its key cast members (Paul Rudd and the beautiful Ms. Banks), ...read the complete Baxter movie review at Premiere (Peter Debruge)
Boston Herald (James Verniere)
User Reviews
by Brandon Duncan "f... on May 04, 2008
What is more shocking than that this film represents a radical (even serious) departure from the absurdist fare of The State and Wet Hot American Summer is that it works so well that we stop wanting it to conform to those old standards of loopiness. The ...
by Nicholas S. Piazz... on April 27, 2008
This is one of those films that I caught on cable and on first viewing, I thought it was a cute romantic comedy. But then I saw it again and I laughed hysterically. By the time I picked up the DVD, it was in my Top Ten Fav Films list, which is a tough ...
by Reviewer on February 20, 2007
One probably needs to be 30 plus with some past or present experience in looking for Mr./Mrs. Right to fully appreciate Baxter. It's not a riot, but a warmhearted compilation of cleverly funny snippets about love "chemistry" all coming to a happy end. ...
by K. "daisy4given" on August 10, 2006
"The Baxter" was recommended to me by some friends, and I already knew I liked Michelle Williams, so I took a chance and rented it. I was so pleasantly surprised by this movie that I want to purchase it now!
Quirky and hilarious, unexpected and yet ...
by Adam C. Rhea on June 24, 2006
Okay, first of all, all the other reviews here keep referring to the cast of "Stella" which I've never seen (and maybe that's why the main character of this movie was so fresh for me), but nobody seemed to pick up on the fact that almost the ENTIRE cast ...
by PolarisDiB "dibne... on March 07, 2006
The Baxter
This is probably one of the most underrated films I've seen yet, considering that it's style is basically generic romantic comedy (meaning the makers underrated it themselves), it's gotten little to no viewership... I never even heard of it ...
by Amy Hilliard on January 10, 2006
Oddly enough, I ended up watching this movie with my Dad. We don't always think that the same things are funny, but we both had the same reaction: "this is either the worst movie I have ever seen, or the best!" The Baxters/Baxterettes go awkwardly ...
by Kevin Caffrey on January 07, 2006
Michael Showalter's feature film directorial debut will probably come as somewhat of a surprise to longtime fans of "The State," "Stella," and "Wet Hot American Summer." While some of the absurdity associated with those projects is in place in "The ...
by Cubist on January 05, 2006
The Baxter is about a nice guy named Elliot Sherman (Showalter). He's the kind of guy who doesn't get the girl in the movies. He reads the Dictionary for fun and is an accountant by trade (working for the second best firm in New York City no less) - it ...
by Mickey D "Mickey" on January 04, 2006
The Baxter is a wonderful story told from the view point of the guy you don't ever know (the guy lefted at the alter). It's funny and well written. If you are looking for a great date movie or even just something to watch, this movie is well worth ...
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