Metacritic reviews

Thanks to two pitch-perfect performances, Paddleton is bittersweet and poignant beyond words.

A movie about cancer has no right to be as consistently amusing as Paddleton — a triumph for which credit should be spread around, even if it most deservedly goes to Ray Romano.

Romano’s performance in Paddleton is an incredible work of humor. He creates a character capable of annoying anyone who’s just met him. Many of the movie’s funniest moments allow Romano to play this awkward being to his full, cringe-inducing potential.

Paddleton is so busy not doing much, it blindsides you with its honestly-earned emotions.

Like Paddleton itself, Romano's performance isn't flashy. It isn't dripping with self-awareness or desperation. Rather, it's quietly, subtly beautiful. And it deserves to be seen.

Paddleton takes its emotional cue from "Terms Of Endearment," expanding that film’s final stretch into an entire feature and replacing mother-daughter bonds with the deep but usually unspoken love shared by two male buddies.

Paddleton sneaks up on you, wresting its way into your heart even while you're trying to resist its overly determined quirkiness.

Despite a few key emotional moments, there’s not enough in the performance to fully engage from beginning to end.

Duplass and his co-writer, director Alex Lehmann, deliver this strange concoction – an improv bromance mixed with a tragic love story – with delicacy.

The film largely plays its scenario with a straight and gooey face, coaxing its actors to indulge their worst tendencies.