San Francisco Chronicle by Ruthe Stein

A breed apart from anything coming off the Hollywood assembly line or, for that matter, from the saccharine romances Britain has lately produced.

Entertainment Weekly by Lisa Schwarzbaum

The first Irish creation I've seen in ages to pull off the high-difficulty feat of trafficking in grit, drollery, and emotion without turning to blarney as a crutch.

Washington Post by Desson Thomson

So full of pep you can't help surrendering to its creative energy.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

That it succeeds is some kind of miracle; there's enough material here for three bad films, and somehow it becomes one good one.

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

Altogether compelling.

Dallas Observer by Gregory Weinkauf

Stupid camera shenanigans aside, theater veteran Crowley deftly directs his large, stellar cast, and playwright-cum-screenwriter Mark O'Rowe serves up a wild knot of character arcs pitched somewhere among the neighborhoods of Ken Loach, Mike Leigh and Danny Boyle.

The New Yorker by Anthony Lane

John Crowley’s film is high on its own briskness, and its glances at Irish backstreet life land it securely in the terrain that was mapped out by Stephen Frears’s “The Snapper” and “The Van.” [5 April 2004, p. 89]

Chicago Reader by J.R. Jones

Irish playwright Mark O'Rowe, who wrote the script, has an admirable sense of dramatic proportion that suits his intertwining stories; theater director John Crowley, making his film debut, has a sure hand with his actors; and an excellent cast enlivens this web of romantic and criminal intrigue, set in a gray suburb of Dublin. R.

Washington Post by Michael O'Sullivan

Very, very funny, thanks to a lively first script by Mark O'Rowe, who has a good ear for earthy dialogue and a sense of life's absurd little synchronicities.

Premiere by Glenn Kenny

It’s tempting to summarize this Irish picture as a working-class version of "Love Actually," and indeed, the hardscrabble lives of most of its amorously unfulfilled characters go a long way in making it a whole lot less emetic than Richard Curtis’s hugfest.

TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh

The film's uniformly excellent performances are a delight, and fans of Irish actor Farrell (whose pitch-perfect American accent has served him well in Hollywood) can hear both his natural inflections and his singing voice.

Variety by Derek Elley

Borderline grungy but highly entertaining comedy-drama.

New York Post by Lou Lumenick

"Love, Actually" meets "Trainspotting" in Intermission, an edgy Irish romantic comedy that deftly juggles a dozen interconnected story lines.

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

It's surprising that so much material, so many moods, and such an interesting cast end up making such a small, unmemorable splash.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

Beyond that surface grit, Intermission is still a fairly saccharine collage of self-redemptive gestures and happy endings that, true to its title, only fitfully compels.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

Like many stylish, whipcrack American and British indies made in the wake of Quentin Tarantino and "Trainspotting," the film gets off on the same anything-can-happen storytelling brio, which at least keeps things lively. But without any resonant characters or ideas, it's all empty calories.

Village Voice by Jessica Winter

Like a loud and intermittently charismatic drunk at a dreary dive bar, Intermission grabs your attention, but in no time you're looking for the nearest exit.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

Turns out to be a tedious and under-inspired comedy.