41
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 67Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumStruck by Lightning sticks to generic character sketches of high school student types - the jock, the goth, the cheerleader, etc. - and gives Carson the best lines. In between, some charming, buzzy talents pitch in on this short little lark.
- 60Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzWhile the good outweigh the bad, it's a close race. But what is good, particularly a heartbreaking performance by Allison Janney, is really good, enough so that Colfer emerges as a talent worth watching on the page, not just on the screen.
- 58The A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonThe A.V. ClubTasha RobinsonLightning is a funny, fast-moving movie, packed with barbed one-liners, goofy hyperbole, and all the oversized exasperation of teen angst. But it's too acid, particularly where Colfer is concerned.
- 50Village VoiceVillage VoiceStruck by Lightning means well, but its gentle dissection of high school cliques brings nothing new to the genre, except the fact that being out isn't the problem for the hero, Carson (Colfer).
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversIn his screenwriting debut, Glee's gifted Chris Colfer, 22, proves he can lace a line with sass and soul. The downside of Struck by Lightning, besides the fact that Colfer's character, Carson Phillips, is struck dead in the first scene, is that Colfer hands himself all the best lines.
- Genial and heartfelt but essentially toothless, lacking in either snark or spark.
- 40New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanOne can't blame Colfer for wanting to expand his range, but he's created a character who is neither hero nor villain, in a black comedy that is neither dark nor funny enough.
- 40The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenExcept for Ms. Janney's monstrous mother and an Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother (Polly Bergen), Struck by Lightning gives its characters no dimension.
- 20Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearThen observe as all but the hard-core Colferphiles slink out embarrassed, feeling as confused and discombobulated as if they too just took an electric bolt to the brain.
- 0Slant MagazineSlant MagazineA class-five pity party so unbearably condescending and unconvincing that it might just make you run out and buy an "I'm With Mitt" t-shirt, it makes an inadvertent but hugely compelling pro-bullying argument.