Sympathy for Delicious: Critic Reviews

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.

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

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

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

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.

This offbeat effort proves more admirable for its ambition than anything else, as the uneasy mix of satire, allegory, grittiness and redemption never quite jells.

Interesting but never compelling...

Directing debut for Mark Ruffalo presents supernatural premise in an unexpectedly unironic way.

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

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.

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

Good intentions and poor execution.

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.

While, as director, Ruffalo is a little too fond of hand-held shots, he keeps all the performances simmering and moves the story ahead in simple, straightforward steps.

Scattered drama about faith and poverty is intense.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

On odd mishmash that leads to some headscratchingly bizarre moments, while ultimately skirting incoherence of purpose.

Heavily flawed, but better than a lot of the critics are claiming.

Sympathy For Delicious doesn't just go from bad to worse with each passing scene but dives wheelchair first into downright laughable waters during its final ten minutes.

Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut spoofs religious fervour and rock-star excesses, but lead actor Christopher Thornton's muddled screenplay struggles to hit its targets.