60
Episodic and patchy, but well acted and heartfelt.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
50
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
The pacing soon grows dull and the frequent narration is a nonstop string of clichés, platitudes, and truisms that should have been flung out the cutting-room window.
70
16 Years' greatest asset may be its star: Trainspotting's McKidd, coiled and queasy, transcends the dubious romanticism and hard-man clichés of his role -- he exudes a commanding air of constancy in a film that teeters between the rapturous and the ridiculous.
70
The highly directed film adopts a semi-impressionistic approach more European than British in flavor, aided by a terrific central performance by Kevin McKidd and painterly lensing by John Rhodes.
75
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
But the film has a poetic pulse, its ups and downs accompanied by some smartly chosen pop songs, a seductive original score and McKidd's husky voice-over narration.
50
The New York Times by Janet Maslin
The tedium of this antidrinking hoodlum's tale inspires the wrong kind of longing entirely.
50
Overall, it's a seriously flawed but impressive and promising debut.
50
Despite reams of maudlin narration, McKidd's powerful performance as a conflicted man makes this beautifully shot low-budget feature worth checking out.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Ray Bennett
A full-flavored, absorbing tragedy.
50
San Francisco Chronicle by Ruthe Stein
A pretty ugly movie in its own right.