20 April '12

“Stark, uncomfortable, honest, awkward (come on, it’s Theroux), this was a brutal portrait of what autism does to a family. But not devoid of love though. Or humour.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It wasn’t entirely bereft of moments of warmth – several of which derived from the presenter’s own awkward kindness to the people he met – but strain was far more in evidence than pleasure.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“This wasn’t a film with an agenda. It was just a compassionate look at a certain type of experience. The compassion was in fact its most obvious feature, form the attitudes of the parents to the way Theroux got involved.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

“The poke the host elements are quite fun, but more committed, less visible film makers who spend months not fortnights with their subjects, get more out of them.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“It manages to be genuinely warm as well as properly rude. It’s colourful, not just in the language but in Grandma’s bright-yellow kitchen units and her tangerine bathroom suite.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“The self-reflexive comedy has got even more so for the second series, with “Amstell” the character responding to reactions to the performance of Amstell the actor.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“I continue to think his self-penned sitcom does him no favours. The supposed tension between whatever Amstell’s personal life is really like and this mock-up of his Jewish family “worried” for its favourite son, is as limp as anything by now.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“It reminded us that real men exist beyond the movie screen.”
Matt Baylis, The Express