About Alex

Neither the script's up-to-the-minute signifiers nor its cheekily self-aware humor can entirely dispel a formulaic feel.

The intelligence and unhackneyed humor of the believable, unself-conscious screenplay by fledgling director Mr. Zwick (son of veteran director Edward Zwick) deserves special praise. It never hits a false note.

I was pleasantly surprised by much of "About Alex," a film that features a stronger-than-average ensemble for this subgenre even if it too often succumbs to predictable, traditional turns of Screenwriting 101.

The chronicle of a less self-absorbed generation, it's less annoying than The Big Chill but also less funny.

Only Plaza's performance as the troubled Sarah comes close to creating a three-dimensional character.

The insight that social media fosters false intimacy is old news. The film shows only a half-formed sense of how careers have changed in 30 years.

Most of the characters are superficial and underdeveloped, while the film itself is filled with predictable scenarios. Strong performances by the cast elevate the material, but it's simply not enough.

Perhaps we can view this in 30 years as a lightweight text mirroring some of Occupy Wall Street, and perhaps the rise of Elizabeth Warren, although I'm quite sure it will be forgotten about well before then.

Nice to meet you, Truthteller. Meet your fellow stereotypes...

A riff on the 1983 classic The Big Chill, this ensemble drama's reunion of old friends differs because Alex's suicide fails this time.

Ultimately, the portrayals in About Alex are all caricatures that don't really ring true.

The whole movie feels like sitting through a monologue read by over-privileged millennials reading pages from their pubescent diary, sharing shallow revelations about crushes and car envy.