Daydream Nation: Critic Reviews

"Daydream Nation" rolls elements of "Juno," "American Beauty," "Donnie Darko" and "Twin Peaks" into a potent blunt.

Another film in which on-screen teens, especially the nubile femme fatale at the center, are but vessels to showcase the screenwriter's irony-drenched, self-satisfied intellect.

Goldbach fills the story with too many distractions, but Dennings, known for "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist," is feline and fun.

Charged with alternating currents of teen angst, sardonic wit, nervous dread and impudent sensuality, Daydream Nation suggests Juno as reimagined by David Lynch, or a funnier, sunnier Donnie Darko.

Worth seeking out...

Caught halfway between comedy and drama, it's a movie that resists definition, for good and for ill.

To a large degree, the film is a platform for Dennings, with her young-but-wise blend of vulnerability and take-charge brashness that make her an utterly plausible magnet for sensitive dudes.

A fitfully engaging effort that is most successful as a performance piece for actors Kat Dennings and Reece Thompson.

The goodwill that the charming Dennings has built up in earlier films, such as 40-Year-Old Virgin and Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist, doesn't excuse this role.

An alternately heady and queasy portrait of a small town slipping into madness.

Director/writer Mike Goldbach's first half of the film is engaging ..., suspenseful (who is the "man in the white suit?"-with a delectable shade of grey served up red herring style) and masterfully balanced.

While not always comfortable in its quaint, quirky skin, it does deliver some intriguing performances and some inventive directorial turns.

Daydream Nation is a mess, but a gorgeous mess. Come for the flaccid teen distress, stay for the stunning imagery.

It's a film about teen angst that's too caught up in its characters' state of mind to see its way through to the other side.

Sonic Youth should sue.

There are times when you can lose yourself in its shabby surrealism. But there are so many movies that are like Daydream Nation, there's little it can do to surprise you with its dramatic impact.

Before it completely wears out its welcome, Daydream Nation basically comes off as a watchable teen drama.