SummaryRocker Ethan Brand and his band are on the comeback trail when a former flame drops a bomb in his lap: their 13-year-old daughter, Janie Jones. Ethan refuses to believe Janie is his kid, but when her mom suddenly leaves for rehab, the child has no place to go but into the tour bus and on the road with the band. With no feel for fatherhood, Ethan ... Read More
Directed By:David M. Rosenthal
Written By:David M. Rosenthal
Janie Jones
Metascore
Mixed or Average
52
User score
Generally Favorable
6.5
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
52
38% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
56% Mixed
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
6% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Oct 22, 2011
80
What this predictable tale lacks in surprises it more than makes up for in charm, good music and the indelible performances of Alessandro Nivola and Abigail Breslin as father and child.
Nov 2, 2011
67
With Ethan and Janie sharing folkie duets, it has a certain small, wan charm, like a father-daughter gloss on "Once." Breslin is a clear-eyed delight.
Nov 10, 2011
63
Nivola and Breslin make a terrific mismatched pair in a film that often resembles a mash-up of "Crazy Heart" and Sofia Coppola's "Somewhere," which may account for why it too often feels derivative and contrived.
Nov 6, 2011
50
Janie Jones is ultimately its own uneven tune, a mixture of discordant notes and way-too-familiar chords.
Oct 22, 2011
50
There's never any doubt where the picture is headed. If it finally achieves a modicum of poignancy, the impact surely would have been greater if the whole felt fresher.
Oct 25, 2011
40
Nivola and Breslin sing and perform the original numbers, welcome interludes that provide respite from Rosenthal's lousy script.
Oct 28, 2011
25
The indie road movie Janie Jones is billed as "inspired by the true story" of its writer-director, David M. Rosenthal. Impossible. No one's life is this boring.
User score
Generally Favorable
6.5
50% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Oct 5, 2014
8
Seeing movies back to back on a plane is always interesting. The context can totally shift the tone of a film. Watched JANIE JONES, a lovely small indie that just feels so right and so right now, capturing the ebb and flow of contemporary life. The film doesn't break any new territory but as a character study it surprises in so many ways. Both Abigail Breslin and Alessandro Nivola are pitch perfect and even every small role from Elizabeth Shue to one of my favorites Peter Stormare, just rings right. An eloquent complex work that really surprised me!
Oct 20, 2012
5
Starts off absorbing, band interactions are interesting. But second half is a bore and utterly predictable. Should have let Breslin solo, rather than spend so much time on Nivola's dreary narcissistic monotones. Shue's role could have been developed more, especially her relationship to her daughter. Instead, the ending just doesn't ring true.
Production Company:
- Unified Pictures
- Absurda
- Industrial Entertainment
- Media House Capital
- Envision Media Arts
Release Date:Oct 28, 2011
Duration:1 h 54 m
Tagline:Two strangers. One family.
Website:
Awards
Chlotrudis Awards
• 1 Nomination
