It's amiable enough but there's nothing on show to make it stand out from the average rom-com.
Comment
10/26/07
Puccini for Beginners (2007)
50
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:60
Fresh:30
Rotten:30
Average Rating:5.7/10
Consensus: A Woody Allen-ish film that needs more of the caustic wit expected from the best New York rom coms.
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: Everyone is love-crazed in Maria Maggenti's delightfully quick-witted screwball comedy, Puccini for Beginners; but Allegra Castiglione–our dashing, adorable heroine–is by far the most commitment... [More]
Starring: Elizabeth Reaser, Gretchen Mol, Justin Kirk, Jennifer Dundas
Director: Maria Maggenti
Reviews for Puccini for Beginners
Top CriticThis film is a charmer: a genuine screwball comedy, set in springtime New York.
01/29/07
Maggenti has fun messing around with gender and sexuality stereotypes as well as relationship roles, and strives to hammer home the point that both men and women can devolve into comically clingy wrecks.
04/18/07
The movie offers a charming view of a small-town Manhattan where strangers constantly give Allegra romantic advice. Though that device is a little too indebted to Woody Allen, at least Maggenti does Allen a lot better than Ed Burns.
03/01/07
[Actress] Reaser is no slouch in the emotionally befuddled whirlwind department. In the end, it's all la dolce vita no matter how you look at it.
04/14/07
[Director] Maggenti is getting better at building characters with distinctive quirks and nuance, but when they open their mouths, they still talk like they're in a movie.
02/02/07
If Woody Allen were a young, attractive gay woman, he might make something like this, or so Maggenti hopes. But it would probably be funnier, and it would definitely cut deeper.
02/09/07
Click to read the article
04/23/09
Perhaps more problematic than the film's derivative nature -- with plot points and dialogue borrowing somewhat from Sex and the City and rather heavily from Woody Allen -- is the fact that the film is just not funny.
02/02/07
Fresh Manhattan locations prove as photogenic as the leads, and the supporting actors -- especially Tina Benko as a glacial, impeccably dressed amazon -- don't miss a beat of Maggenti's snappy dialogue.
12/17/07
[Director] Maggenti offers a cute variation on the classic Hollywood 'comedy of remarriage.'
02/09/07
Top CriticA sharp-witted romantic comedy that takes the old Woody Allen screwball style and mood and amusingly applies them to a story about tangled gay and straight relationships in modern Manhattan.
02/08/07
More of an extended sitcom than a film, featuring character actors who know the best way to milk a laugh from a line of dialogue or a facial expression.
01/24/07
An engaging romantic quadrangle.
03/02/07
As offensive to New Yorkers as it is to men and lesbians
01/31/07
Thankfully, Puccini for Beginners isn't quite as exploitative as you might expect for a movie about a bisexual love triangle. But that's about all the credit this flat-footed, would-be screwball comedy gets.
05/18/07
There is pleasure and even insight to be had in Puccini but it all feels second-hand, and therefore, of questionable provenance.
03/23/07
Reaser really doesn't stand a chance. She's plucky as heck, and you like her despite the script, but she can't save the movie.
03/23/07
A more apt moniker would be Romantic Comedy for Dummies.
02/17/07
Light and fluffy but inconsequential, Maggenti's second feature in a decade is a pale imitation of Woody Allen's romantic comedies, except that the lead is a lesbian, no bi-sexual, no just confused (whatever, choose one).
06/26/06
Latest News for Puccini for Beginners
February 01, 2007:
Critical Consensus: "Because" Is Less Than So-So; "Messengers" Not Screened -- Guess The Tomatometer!
This week at the movies, we've got mother/daughter conflict ("Because I Said So," starring Diane Keaton and Mandy Moore) and dark proceedings on a North Dakota... More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds