65
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Slant MagazineClayton DillardSlant MagazineClayton DillardIt revives hope for a pop-art cinema that's capable of treating characters like actual human beings rather than pawns on a chess board.
- 80Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenPacking plenty of visual zip and terrific character faces into its compact running time, De Jong never allows the considerable quirkiness to upstage the storytelling.
- 75RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoRogerEbert.comBrian TallericoA strong, creative addition to the crowded coming-of-age genre.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceLike a purple Lamborghini — or an adolescent boy's first, er, encounter — the film is too fast but almost unquestionably fun.
- 70VarietyJustin ChangVarietyJustin ChangA slender, morally simplified fable that makes up for its tonal and narrative imprecisions with considerable visual energy, musical pizzazz, and a panoply of colorful characters.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyEven if de Jong's command of the shifting styles is inconsistent, the movie has a quirky spirit that makes it easy to enjoy.
- Ultimately, Prince is unwilling to follow through on its darker impulses, while equally reluctant to go the whole nine yards in its lighter comedy register. Even so, its stylistic brio makes Prince enough of a live wire to bode well for de Jong’s future.
- It wants to be cute, it wants to cool, and it also wants to be thoughtful and engaging, but Sam de Jong is unable to make the story feel tight and focused enough to allow it to succeed on all those levels.
- 50The New York TimesHelen T. VerongosThe New York TimesHelen T. VerongosAt times tender and at others unflinchingly brutal, this small drama of innocence and temptation could have aimed much higher.
- 40Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAustin ChronicleSteve DavisThe not-so-fresh Prince charts a familiar cautionary tale about the bad choices economically disadvantaged young men sometimes make early in life, but to its credit, it seldom feels hackneyed or cliched.