Name : Sandy Cohen / Alias : Associated Press
The issue is the story. It's not just uneven, it's often unfunny: tinged with homophobia and centered on a wholly unlikeable, self-absorbed man.

Name : Richard Brody / Alias : New Yorker
[A] queasy, schematic, wanly sentimental comedy .

Name : Peter Travers / Alias : Rolling Stone
Some critics are getting all up in the face of this audacious dark comedy for, well, being audacious. What are we supposed think about a movie that doesn't conform to formula? I'd start with grateful.

Name : Colin Covert / Alias : Minneapolis Star Tribune
A bromantic comedy with a sharp edge of melancholy, this indie casts Jack Black and James Marsden in the sort of parts they play frequently, then pushes them toward pathos.

Name : Kyle Smith / Alias : New York Post
"The D Train" is a good-humored, warm-hearted movie in which Black, as usual, excels.

Name : Barbara VanDenburgh / Alias : Arizona Republic
The film goes off the beaten path to tell a very familiar story in an unfamiliar way, turning the mismatched buddy dynamic Black and Marsden had developed into something much more complicated and interesting.

Name : Rafer Guzman / Alias : Newsday
"The D Train" may be a scant and rather unconvincing comedy, but it deserves credit for taking a risk.

Name : Robert Abele / Alias : Los Angeles Times
A recognizably delusional schlub sits at the center of the loser comedy "The D Train," thanks to the sad-sack acumen of Jack Black.

Name : Rene Rodriguez / Alias : Miami Herald
The movie flirts with a great darkness about disillusionment and self-loathing even as it races around spinning comedic plates. Too bad the filmmakers lose their nerve by film's end.

Name : Katharine Pushkar / Alias : New York Daily News
Black's narcissistic, obsessive, stunted Dan is so careless about all his relationships - with his wife, son, boss - that you wonder how he ever had them in the first place.

Name : Moira MacDonald / Alias : Seattle Times
Writer/directors Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel let the movie run out of steam a bit before its ending (things get weirdly gooey), but Black keeps us hanging on as "The D Train" swerves; you hope that, somehow, he'll get through the journey safely.

Name : David Ehrlich / Alias : Time Out
The D Train ultimately generates so few laughs from its thin "be yourself" message that a commendable refusal to gawk at the gay stuff is all that keeps it on track.

Name : Joe Williams / Alias : St. Louis Post-Dispatch
While Black is painfully effective as the dork who drops slangy kudos on his new BFF, Marsden is a revelation.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
Nothing about "The D Train" feels the least bit authentic, and worse, little about it is funny. That's a deadly recipe for a dark comedy.

Name : Tom Long / Alias : Detroit News
A cringe-filled comic rumination on the cost of being cool, "The D Train" starts out as straight silliness and then turns to more aching matters.

Name : Bilge Ebiri / Alias : New York Magazine/Vulture
The last act of The D Train becomes a hilarious, deeply weird, and ultimately touching medley of delusion, humiliation, and friendship.

Name : Mark Jenkins / Alias : NPR
The filmmakers proceed as if they're making a conventional high-school comedy, papering over the holes in the script with pop songs.

Name : Alan Scherstuhl / Alias : Village Voice
The D Train has one great idea, a couple strong jokes, and a void at its center - a man who is only believable when he briefly becomes specific.

Name : Claudia Puig / Alias : USA Today
The D Train is long on high-concept comedy, then runs out of steam and becomes a forced and far-fetched drama.

Name : Ben Sachs / Alias : Chicago Reader
For a vulgar American comedy, this is refreshingly low-key and generous. I admired its intentions without finding it all that funny.

Name : John Anderson / Alias : Wall Street Journal
While it dwells in a much darker realm than American humor generally ventures into, what it uncovers is worth a stare. Maybe even a shudder.

Name : Mike D'Angelo / Alias : AV Club
It's a mess, but it's a commendable mess. Bonus points for ambition and nerve.

Name : Manohla Dargis / Alias : New York Times
For long stretches, "The D Train" serves as a commodious vehicle for Mr. Black, who, like the best comic performers, never seems remotely concerned about going too big or risking the audience's love.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
Edgy and soft, audacious and coy, a largely enjoyable letdown.

Name : Tom Russo / Alias : Boston Globe
Any real resonance gets swallowed up by a story that's excruciatingly uncomfortable rather than genuinely funny.

Name : Rex Reed / Alias : New York Observer
So many t's are uncrossed and i's undotted that the movie is a mess. Still, I was fascinated by what it might have been.

Name : James Berardinelli / Alias : ReelViews
Andrew Mogel and Jarrad Paul, making their directorial debut, manage the difficult task of keeping the audience engaged even though both of the main characters are unlikable.

Name : Mick LaSalle / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
It should be obvious by now that Black is much more than a funny fellow. This is a good actor with a particular strength at playing protected, disturbed personalities - secretly angry people trying with all their might to be something they're not.

Name : Ann Hornaday / Alias : Washington Post
"The D Train" is far from perfect - up to and including the waste of Kathryn Hahn in a lifeless, stereotypical role as Dan's wife - but it has its moments. And most of them belong to Marsden.

Name : Todd McCarthy / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
Some may buy it, but from several perspectives what takes place simply seems beyond the pale dramatically; it's hard to believe things would go as far as they do.

Name : James Rocchi / Alias : TheWrap
Black gives a career-highlight performance as an all-too-regular-guy tripped up by fame, fear, bad high school memories and a diabolically charming James Marsden in a strange, sharp comedy.

Name : Joe Morgenstern / Alias : Wall Street Journal
More than a musical offering, it's a study in boundless passion, plus a wellspring of wisdom about art and life from a man who sees no dividing line between the one and the other.

Name : J. R. Jones / Alias : Chicago Reader
The movie's real subject is the difficulty - and the critical importance - of bringing into harmony one's personal and artistic lives, of being not only a good artist but a joyful one.

Name : Peter Rainer / Alias : Christian Science Monitor
The unfortunate disconnect between great artistry and great commercial success runs throughout history. But Bernstein is a special case because, unlike so many great musicians who fell unwillingly by the wayside, he chose his own path.

Name : Peter Travers / Alias : Rolling Stone
Ethan Hawke's remarkable documentary puts us in close proximity to 80-something classical pianist Seymour Bernstein, whose funny, touching and vital presence is something you don't want to miss.

Name : John Anderson / Alias : Newsday
Unusual, intelligent documentary whose subject is a pleasure to spend time with.

Name : David Ehrlich / Alias : Time Out
Hawke's first documentary is a perfect movie for a gray Sunday afternoon, a gentle and loving tribute to a man . anachronistically convinced that talent is its own reward.

Name : Manohla Dargis / Alias : New York Times
So effective does it close the distance between you and Mr. Bernstein that afterward you may find yourself scanning the streets, hoping to catch sight of him, as if for an old friend.

Name : Leba Hertz / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
Bernstein in action is a study of what a teacher should be: kind but with a steely resolve. He analyzes the music and figures how to overcome its obstacles.

Name : Bill Goodykoontz / Alias : Arizona Republic
His playing is beautiful - he was a gifted concert pianist who gave up the stage at 50 to concentrate on teaching and composing. His stories are tremendous. And his voice, clear and strong, is magnetic.

Name : Tom Long / Alias : Detroit News
The great joy of the film, whether you know piano or not, is watching Bernstein teach.

Name : Steven Rea / Alias : Philadelphia Inquirer
Seymour: An Introduction is just that - not too much biography, or history. And one needn't be a music aficionado, or a musician, to appreciate the modest erudition coming from this man.

Name : Stephanie Zacharek / Alias : Village Voice
Works both as a celebration of Bernstein, whose spirit is at once gentle and boldly generous, and as a way of exploring creativity and the meaning it can have in our lives.

Name : Joe Neumaier / Alias : New York Daily News
Some very special aspects of New York City hide in plain sight. A case in point is Seymour Bernstein, the subject of actor Ethan Hawke's assured, meditative debut as a documentary director.

Name : Peter Keough / Alias : Boston Globe
Whether or not Hawke got any answers to his questions about the purpose of being artist, seeking them under the guidance of a teacher like Bernstein resulted in this work of art.

Name : Colin Covert / Alias : Minneapolis Star Tribune
Like a touching master class on living correctly, listening to the charming Bernstein will have you changing keys.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
In his calm defense of beauty, craftsmanship, intellectual curiosity and emotional connection as vital human needs, this is one artist who knows he doesn't have to raise his voice to speak volumes.

Name : Anthony Lane / Alias : New Yorker
The sweetness of the subject's nature and the gentle modulations of his speaking voice are so potent that it would seem not just uncivil but futile to contradict him; yet Hawke is too alert and too inquiring to let the movie subside into worship.

Name : Joe Williams / Alias : St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Hawke's cinematic etude may not unlock all the mysteries of music, but "Seymour: An Introduction" is universal enough to be understood by a bananafish.

Name : Inkoo Kang / Alias : TheWrap
"Seymour: An Introduction" is a compendium of tutorial anecdotes and poetic aphorisms he's collected over the years. Hawke's approach is apostolic, as if he's recording for posterity the sublime wisdom of a philosophical master.

Name : Ann Hornaday / Alias : Washington Post
"Seymour: An Introduction" gives viewers a soaring, sublime and enduringly meaningful glimpse of a man who is undoubtedly the real thing.

Name : Stephen Farber / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
Hawke's film is very well crafted, tightly edited and elegantly photographed. The acute musical selections only add to our appreciation of Seymour's selfless devotion to his art.

Name : Linda Barnard / Alias : Toronto Star
A fondly made portrait . of a gentle philosopher with a wicked wit, a superbly talented pianist who intellectually challenges and charms in equal parts.

Name : Brad Wheeler / Alias : Globe and Mail
It's hard to find much wrong with this film, itself a meditation on art and the practice of craft.

Name : Bruce Ingram / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
Coming off of his superb one-two performances for Richard Linklater in Before Midnight and Boyhood, Hawke continues to work at a creative high level. He demonstrates a rapport and openness with his subject that proves exceptionally affecting.

Name : Joe McGovern / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Hawke's gaze is too adoring, but the solitary sight of Bernstein putting together his foldout couch/bed in his one-room apartment is as poignant as his recital of the "Moonlight" Sonata.

Name : Mike D'Angelo / Alias : AV Club
The film claims to be an introduction, but it's really a long series of conclusions.