Popular reviews

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  Review by emilia ★★½ 1

  demetri martin is exactly the kind of guy i would have had a crush on in middle school before i realized i was a lesbian

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  Review by David Sims ★ 1

  y'know, the world doesn't need more Zach Braffs

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  Review by davidehrlich ★★★

  It's starting to seem like the sixth stage of grief is making a movie about it.

  The latest in a recent string of directorial debuts about young people grappling with the imminent or recent loss of a parent, Demetri Martin's "Dean" may not land with the sheer force of "James White" or offer the exacting detail of Sundance opener "Other People," but this winsome low-key comedy lucidly conveys how grief can feel like being shot into uncharted stretches of outer space.

  READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE

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  Review by Nick Versaci ★★★½

  I'm going to use this brief space to praise Demetri Martin, who was honest, funny, kind and interesting in a Q&A that was one of the most rewarding I've seen. (The questions, even from the audience, were solid.) Demetri stayed after to talk to everyone, even about some pretty personal subjects, and I came away liking him even more than I had. This film was made for under a million dollars and for the right reasons, and I can't wait to see more content from Demetri soon, whether it's another film, cartoons, stand-up, or a show a la Important Things (awesome sketch comedy). What a neat guy.

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  Review by Zachary Beckler ★★ 1

  Things Demetri Martin probably likes:
  - Drawing
  - Love on Netflix
  - Garden State
  - 500 Days of Summer
  - Early Wes Anderson
  - Woody Allen's late 70's period
  - Meet cute scenes
  - Films without subtext

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  Review by Crampy Joe ★★★★½ 3

  This is exactly the kinda movie I want to make, except I'd have way less white people

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  Review by Mike Demorest ★★★

  A solid grief dramedy that has a pretty light touch to some heavy subject manner. Largely was just alright but had enough little spectacular moments throughout the movie that definitely elevated it.

  I really appreciated the relationship between Dean and his father. It really presented how mourning the loss of a loved one is both a deeply personal thing and also a communal thing. It highlights that often times when we lose a loved one we are so wrapped in our own grief we can be selfish. Which in turn causes us to ignore the communal loss. I thought them each focusing on losing their mom/wife instead of the fact they each lost the same person and coming together for each other was excellently portrayed.

  Great performances across the board and some nice needle drops made for a lovely time. Definitely worth a watch.

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  Review by Matt ★★★

  Though I've seen old farmer's jackets that are less twee, this was a very touching little indie about grief and moving on. The cast are uniformly excellent and the writing intelligent, if only it did a few things with more courage to save it from a fairly pedestrian and preachy final act.

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★½

  41/100

  A.V. Club review. As in Taking Woodstock, Demetri Martin's screen presence is fatally anemic; at least he had the sense to offer Kline and Steenburgen as supplements.

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  Review by Travis Lytle ★★★½

  Demetri Martin's "Dean," with its subtle nervous energy and authentically romantic lilt, is a surprisingly sound comedy of loss and learning. Starring Martin as a floundering illustrator, the film sees the man dealing with the death of his mother by taking a sojourn from the east to the west US coasts. Fueled by the zing of romance and a dusting of self-discovery, the story is endearing, honest, and good-natured. Martin, blessed with an ideal cast, constructs his film with an airy yet weighty sense of self that moves easily from melancholy to mirth and helps the work stick a refreshingly appealing landing.

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  Review by Jenna Ipcar ★★★★

  Read more at: Laughing Through the Tears.

  I'm a long time fan of Demetri Martin but I was really blown away by how sweet, touching and laugh out loud funny this was. In fact I'd go ahead and say this was an excellent comedy until the last 15 minutes where I then had to hold back tears. 

  Instead of dealing with death, this is a movie about living day to day with grief. Living in a parallel world you don't recognize, one that feels oppressive and blank. But it's also about adulthood, the complexities of all relationships and a rather amusing dig at cat people. I loved all of his drawings and I even loved the Cat Stevens-esque soundtrack that was honestly a little too on the nose but still completely worked.

  This movie felt like the best of his stand up mixed with a really honest and vulnerable personal story and I really appreciated seeing that side of Martin.

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  Review by danielscalph ★★★★

  Irrelevant tidbit first: Demetri Martin is one of the few standup comedians I've seen live.

  The first quarter or so of Dean feels like Martin is doing a lazy hipster movie riff, but when it eventually becomes clear that he's taking the piss out of this style the laughs start landing with more and more frequency. I also really enjoy seeing some bits which started off as standup jokes fully acted out. I've seen comparisons to Garden State, and while there are some aspects of the core story which are similar, the sappy indulgence of that older film is exactly what Dean is deconstructing. This is why Dean doesn't get the girl in the end and why his father gets…