Aloha attempts to resolve two complex potential romances while simultaneously sounding the alarm against the military-industrial complex (!) and contemplating the ongoing marginalization of native Hawaiians.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Many of the actors remain so charming that watching them, even in a film as slapdash as this, makes the entire experience better than it really is. But that doesn’t mean Aloha should be considered passable.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 21, 2022

A sweet natured misfire, a movie that, to once again paraphrase Crowe, does not show us the money.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Feb 3, 2021

It was like Cameron Crowe does a Wes Anderson film, and the result is "huh?"

Full Review | Apr 28, 2020

It just didn't jell. It was like forcing a circle into a square.

Full Review | Apr 28, 2020

There is an undeniable charm to some of the scenes of this movie, but few movie lovers will be offering it "warm aloha".

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 5, 2019

Crowe paints with a broad and often heavy-handed brush, leaving us with a film that seems strangely unsure of itself and what it wants to be.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 5, 2019

Aloha starts off in Elizabethtown-esque territory but, perhaps thanks to winning performances or the stunning island scenery, it becomes something better.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | May 4, 2019

Aloha is often surprising, sometimes fun and occasionally tone-deaf. If Cooper, Hawaii and/or slow-building thrillers appeal, then this is recommended despite its flaws.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Dec 19, 2018

The film is a valiant effort, with flashes of wit and intelligence; but overall, the film takes on too much and accomplishes little.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10 | Nov 1, 2018

Aloha is a featherweight concoction that's fuzzy in the head and squishy in the middle. Yes, there's even an obligatory happy couple montage, but the film is also nuanced and eccentric in ways that are very unusual for a studio comedy.

Full Review | Aug 22, 2018

I'll take this romantic movie over a Nicholas Sparks film any day!

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 21, 2018

There are elements of Aloha that are actually quite good, but ultimately it's two mismatched movies smashed together and is too messy to succeed.

Full Review | Oct 17, 2017

It's another pretty trifle -- albeit one with huge aspirations that go nowhere.

Full Review | Aug 2, 2017

When a major plot point hinges on a chance encounter with some video shot by an irritatingly precocious 10-year-old, well, you know something's awry.

Full Review | Jun 27, 2017

Half the time while watching Aloha, I had no clue what was going on. Not so much the plot -- although I was admittedly a bit muddled on that, too -- but why anyone acted the way they did.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4 | Jun 10, 2016

It seems less that Crowe's gifts have escaped him than that they've become disproportionate with his excesses, and we're less forgiving of those trespasses.

Full Review | May 28, 2016

Aloha is Hollywood's biggest Hawaiian wreck since Michael Bay sunk those ships in Pearl Harbour.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | May 6, 2016

A curious twist on the body swap comedy, with its talented creator and stars ostensibly pulling a switcheroo with a group of exponentially less talented people.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 8, 2016

It's hard to know what anybody involved in this misbegotten mash-up was thinking, other than 'Hey! The shooting location's in Hawaii!' (The state looks beautiful here, but that's a bit like saying Sharon Stone was attractive in Basic Instinct 2.)

Full Review | Original Score: 2 of 5 | Mar 26, 2016