Lake City (film)

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 12% based on reviews from 26 critics, with an average rating of 3.6/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Lake City fails to make use of its accomplished cast, with the story unraveling amid the competing visions of its dual directors".^[4] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 29 out of a 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.^[5]

Bill White of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote: "When Hill and Moore leave story and characters behind to veer off into suspenseless chases through cornfields, one wonders if the era of earnest American drama may be coming to a close".^[6]

Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle said "The only thing saving Lake City from total ridiculousness is [Sissy] Spacek".^[7]

Stephen Holden reviewing for The New York Times had criticized the lead actress, writing "When Sissy Spacek speaks her cliched lines in the mediocre screenplay of [the film], her delivery lends them a resonance that is not in the written words".^[8]

According to Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle "With all the high-profile movies blasting into theaters at this time of year, Lake City will probably get lost in the shuffle. That won't be a tragedy".^[9]

Robert Koehler of The Christian Science Monitor wrote "The astonishingly inept finish could serve as a primer in screenwriting classes on how not to wind up a family drama".^[10]

Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly said that "The story is as impersonal as it is labored",^[11] while Michelle Orange of The Village Voice wrote "Add[ing] to the general torpidity and twangy tropes of this Southern family drama is the discomfort of watching a natural actor force it".^[12]

• Official website
• Lake City at IMDb