50
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanIt is the four young actors who play the students who truly shine, and who elevate the formulaic film above and beyond its familiar proceedings.
- 75Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniPhiladelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniAt times, Spare Parts sails perilously close to the saccharine. But the film is a fine example of a message movie that does justice both to its important subject matter and to its characters' inner lives.
- 70Los Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenLos Angeles TimesMichael RechtshaffenDirector Sean McNamara's film is impressively buoyed by a cast of young newcomers and seasoned pros.
- 60Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzArizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSpare Parts is the kind of feel-good underdog movie that almost can't help getting waylaid by cliches.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenThe immigration-themed messages of acceptance and encouragement are clearly spelled out, often in heavy-handed fashion, and an overriding blandness mutes the drama. But there’s also something apt in the straightforward telling of the against-the-odds adventure.
- 50Austin ChronicleSteve DavisAustin ChronicleSteve DavisCall it humanism, call it advocacy, call it old-fashioned entertainment – there’s little difference in the end. Whatever you call it, Spare Parts stands and delivers on its own intriguing merits.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleSan Francisco ChronicleIf “Stand and Deliver” struck many as a hard-hitting look at life in the urban ghetto, Spare Parts seems like a Disney after-school special by comparison.
- 50RogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaRogerEbert.comSusan WloszczynaThe issue of so-called “illegals” could not be more timely and, if Spare Parts does anything, it attempts to humanize the situation of those children who cope with this limbo-land existence without having had much choice in the matter.
- 38Boston GlobePeter KeoughBoston GlobePeter KeoughAside from the clever punning of the title, Spare Parts ends up as jury-rigged and programmatic as Stinky, the robot in the movie. And, unlike Stinky, it is dead in the water.
- 30The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe movie’s setup has underdog appeal in spades. But it’s all for naught in a screenplay, by Elissa Matsueda (working from Joshua Davis’s 2005 article in Wired magazine), that plays down intellect in favor of corn and cliché.