Yet another example of modern-family predicaments getting stuffed into the traditional-family-values message of conventional comedies.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
A lovable underachiever unwittingly spawns his own village in Starbuck, Ken Scott's crowd-pleasing comedy exploring various meanings of fatherhood in the modern age.
The humor here is sitcom broad, and Scott displays little sense of rhythm; the film runs under two hours, but feels considerably longer.
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
Almost all the charm of the real story is lost through the contrivances and overacting.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service by Roger Moore
It’s a smidge too cute and a bit too long, but Huard and Scott make this comical journey (in French and “Franglish” with English subtitles), a trip from indifference to kindness, incompetence to responsibility, a most rewarding reinvention of what “family” can mean.
Huard’s charm offsets the plots contrivances, while Ken Scott’s finely balanced direction humanises the high concept.
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Stephen Cole
Starbuck is unapologetic genre filmmaking with a winning performance from its lead, Huard ( Bon Cop, Bad Cop), a shambling, likeable comedian who can flip, flop and fly off a diving board while maintaining his sex appeal.