The Dissolve September 14, 2013 Dowse seems content to turn out solid, down-the-middle crowd-pleasers-and, goodness knows, those are in awfully short supply.
The Guardian September 10, 2013 It’s really hard to finish. It’s liable to leave you queasy.
A film that is like one extended, excruciating anticlimax.
What If is proof that, with a likable cast and a good grasp of tone, it’s possible to make a decent romantic comedy out of the genr...
It’s Radcliffe and Kazan, clinking their takeout coffees (well, there’s no clink in cardboard, is there?) and radiating soulful desire...
What if smart, talented people re-invigorated the rom-com with sass, sex, and sarcasm while still keeping the romance and raw emotion? With What if...
Detroit News August 15, 2014 "What If" flies by on the instant and lasting chemistry between leads Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan.
Film.com September 8, 2013 Elevated from an above-average romantic comedy to a movie worthy of being embraced by a generation of twenty somethings because it refuses to...
Austin Chronicle August 21, 2014 None of it feels terribly authentic.
The film manages a neat trick of sticking close to formula while still being unexpectedly fresh.
RogerEbert.com August 8, 2014 A glorified sitcom, with outbreaks of awkward slapstick complete with bodily injuries, in the mode of TV’s "New Girl" with its constant...
Hollywood Reporter September 10, 2013 Well-scripted rom-com is a strong post-Potter step for Daniel Radcliffe.
The Atlantic July 19, 2016 If this all sounds a bit unromantic, What If certainly shows true love is difficult. For this boy and girl, falling hard for someone is a choi...
There’s nothing unfamiliar or unconventional about the thoroughly charming indie rom-com "What If" – but that is precisely this mov...
indieWire September 14, 2013 The movie primarily frustrates by doing nothing fresh. Careening toward an overly neat and tender resolution, "The F Word" lacks the gall...
The Guardian August 7, 2014 The success of a romcom all comes down to whether you have a stake in seeing the couple together at the end. I have not rooted for the happine...
Boston Globe August 8, 2014 Spall is likable, Kazan is adorable, Driver is amusing enough as the blowhard best friend, and Radcliffe as Wallace is … a passive-aggressive...
The Atlantic September 22, 2016 What If doesn’t take too many surprising turns to get where you know it’s going to go, but it handles each turn with consummate profess...
buzzfeed.com August 7, 2014 What If is a cute exploration of the not-unexplored territory of whether or not men and women can ever be friends. But it’s rarely cuteSY.
Slant Magazine August 3, 2014 Right up to its simplistic ending, the film is pleased to regurgitate the contrived tropes of the genre without ever honestly addressing the ethics...
Dowse blankets his love story with heavy layers of cutesy quirkiness, but there’s no denying its conventional and derivative soul.
New York Post August 6, 2014 The movie is saturated with cute, teeming with cute, rancid with cute. I’d endured all a man could fairly be expected to take when I glanced...
Variety September 11, 2013 Roughly three parts charming to one part cloying, "The F Word" attempts and largely succeeds at pulling off a smart, self-aware riff on romant...
Independent August 22, 2014 Its plotting is predictable but Kazan and Radcliffe make a thoroughly engaging double act.
Chicago Tribune August 7, 2014 Why did the film’s charms elude me? I felt arm-twisted by "What If," for all its tossed-off verbiage and wisecracking.
Toronto Star August 21, 2014 The dialogue is believable and funny, even if strays a little too often into the grotesque eating and toilet habits of the late Elvis Presley.
This is standard rom-com terrain, and, as directed by Michael Dowse and written by Elan Mastai, it doesn’t fly high. At times it’s rath...
I’ll admit it: I fell hard for What If, even as I realized that in an alternate universe I may have wanted to punch all of these charact...
Globe and Mail August 22, 2014 Long before the script permits the characters to acknowledge the obvious, you lose patience: Jump into the deep end of the bed already. It would be...
ReelViews August 10, 2014 It feels familiar and the appeal of the leads can’t fully compensate for unremarkable dialogue and the obligatory (but nevertheless irritatin...
Village Voice August 8, 2014 While What If does have its blemishes – there are times when it’s just too cute for its own good – it’s so enjoyable from mom...
What if is less conventional and more winning than most films in this category.
Daily Telegraph August 21, 2014 The film’s fine.
Irish Times August 22, 2014 Scored to inevitable strummy folk-pop, the film keeps itself amusingly busy until Wall and Chan do what it is they are going to do.
The picture flirts with the clichés, but skillfully avoids the worst of them, while going into unexpected territory, both comically and dramatically.
New York Times August 7, 2014 A balloon of cuteness that makes you yearn for a pin, "What If" is Saturday night comfort food for those who need to believe that even th...
Rolling Stone August 8, 2014 What If doesn’t break new ground. But it has charm to spare, and Radcliffe and Kazan are irresistible. No ifs about it.
We’re used to rom-coms that show off hot bodies (see Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis in Friends With Benefits). With these two, it’s t...
Once you get past the film’s been-there theme – Can a straight man and a woman just be friends? - it’s essentially, "Check,&n...
Radcliffe is delightful, showcasing a sly, winning comedic style. Kazan’s charms are a bit more twee (her character is also more un...
Radcliffe, who has been flirting with adulthood in his recent screen outings, arrives as a wry, unconventionally handsome leading man. And Kaz...
Los Angeles Times September 18, 2013 It has the same kind of young smart set speak that you hear all the time in Lena Dunham’s Girls.
Chicago Reader August 28, 2014 Nerd wish-fulfillment of the first order, this Canadian rom-com places an artificial barrier between its cute-as-a-button leads and asks us to stic...
The Guardian August 21, 2014 There are some reasonable moments, and Kazan brings all her cherubic prettiness and vulnerability, but I can’t help thinking it appeared...