Medicine for Melancholy

The New York Times A.O. Scott

There are no simple answers or obvious conclusions to be gleaned from this movie, which, like its soundtrack, is both sad and vibrant, meandering and formally sure-footed. It is an exciting debut, and a film that, without exaggeration or false modesty, finds interest and feeling in the world just as it is.

Village Voice Ernest Hardy

Tender, smart, soulful.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The film falters only when it eavesdrops briefly on a passionate public discussion of rent control and gentrification. The moment is out of keeping with the carefree nature of the rest of the movie.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray

Medicine For Melancholy offers a personal spin on the "walking around a city" genre.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Under the subdued, dignified surface, this movie - about the 24 hours after a one-night stand - churns with a filmmaker's fascination and wonder, sadness and longing.

Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey

The narrative, at times, veers into overstatement, but for the most part we're allowed to eavesdrop on their self-examination guilt-free.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Jenkins has an admirable feeling for, as the French would say, mise en scène, and a gift for placing actors in naturalistic settings. What he lacks at this point is a strong story sense.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

So subtle and subdued that it nearly undercuts itself. I'd describe it, in fact, as a film that doesn't quite work -- but the way it doesn't work is so distinctive and so interesting that it marks Jenkins as an exciting new face on the American indie scene.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Wyatt Cenac, the latest addition to "The Daily Show" With Jon Stewart, is the best reason to see this easygoing romantic comedy.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The film does not lack for ambition both in terms of its themes and artistic design. Consequently, his (Jenkins) feature debut, while not flashy, shows promise. Clearly, here is a young filmmaker who wants to tell stories rather than deliver shocks and sensation.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Jenkins is so desperate to give his love story a social and economic context that he stops the movie cold for a bunch of unrelated white people to articulate their grievances over gentrification--it's as if "Annie Hall" had paused for a seminar on agrarian reform.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Yet it's pretty in all the wrong ways: pretty slight, pretty preachy and pretty affected.

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Cenac is witty and Heggins has a wary stillness, but the movie itself seems too shy to let them really engage each other.