40
What was very funny in print becomes serious and occasionally dour onscreen, with fewer laughs than you would expect from a Sedaris project.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
91
There are some who have complained that C.O.G. ends too abruptly, but it has the bracing, devastating punctuation of a fine short story.
67
As a standalone feature, it feels like there’s not quite enough there.
50
The Hollywood Reporter by David Rooney
It’s not bad, but it’s ineffectual -- shuffling from one semi-satirical vignette to the next and then veering into soul-searching territory while generating only mild engagement.
60
An adaptation of a short story from David Sedaris’s best-selling Naked collection, C.O.G. (short for “Child of God”) struggles from the outset to retain the snap of the NPR favorite’s hyperbolic humor while also grounding it in authenticity—a tonal disconnect that nonetheless serves to destabilize a potentially predictable coming-of-age tale.
70
The film strikes a fine balance between hilarity and heartbreak.
80
The source material may be David Sedaris (this marks the first time the essayist has allowed one of his pieces to be adapted), but the tone couldn’t be more Kyle Patrick Alvarez, who once again steers auds to some gloriously uncomfortable places.
75
Miami Herald by Rene Rodriguez
The wonderfully sad, exhilarating ending proves this filmmaker knew exactly where he was headed the entire time.
30
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
For Sedaris fans, C.O.G. is a regrettably patronizing washout.