Colfer is still very young, but he needs to learn that "snide" is not a point of view.
- Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger, January 11, 2013
Ultimately, it all portends a much brighter future for Colfer than for Carson.
- Sara Stewart, New York Post, January 11, 2013
If only "Struck by Lightning" had a sharper, stronger perspective, it might have made more of its conceit.
- Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times, January 10, 2013
Except for Ms. Janney's monstrous mother and an Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother (Polly Bergen), "Struck by Lightning" gives its characters no dimension.
- Stephen Holden, New York Times, January 10, 2013
There isn't much to say about Struck by Lightning, except that it's one of those interchangeable teen movies that lands in theaters in early January, the morgue for films nobody knows what to do with.
- Ella Taylor, NPR, January 10, 2013
In his screenwriting debut, Glee's gifted Chris Colfer, 22, proves he can lace a line with sass and soul.
- Peter Travers, Rolling Stone, January 10, 2013
One can't blame Colfer for wanting to expand his range, but he's created a character who is neither hero nor villain, in a black comedy that is neither dark nor funny enough.
- Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News, January 10, 2013
At times the film is charming against its own will, but it remains needlessly complicated and obsessed with its own mythology and metaphors.
- Amanda Mae Meyncke, Film.com, January 09, 2013
Some charming, buzzy talents pitch in on this short little lark ...
- Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly, January 09, 2013
A mediocre coming-of-age indie.
- Rob Nelson, Variety, January 09, 2013
Struck by Lightning means well, but its gentle dissection of high school cliques brings nothing new to the genre ...
- Brian Miller, Village Voice, January 09, 2013
What makes this film rise a bit above the pack is the recurring idea that everyone wants to leave their nests and fly high into the sky, but few are able.
- Omer Mozaffar, Chicago Sun-Times, January 03, 2013
Chris Colfer's Glee appeal is AWOL in this strained dark comedy about a high school misfit.
- Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter, April 26, 2012
All but the hard-core Colferphiles slink out embarrassed, feeling as confused and discombobulated as if they too just took an electric bolt to the brain.
- David Fear, Time Out New York, January 09, 2013
Lightning is a funny, fast-moving movie, packed with barbed one-liners, goofy hyperbole, and all the oversized exasperation of teen angst. But it's too acid, particularly where Colfer is concerned.
- Tasha Robinson, AV Club, January 10, 2013
A class-five pity party so unbearably condescending and unconvincing that it might just make you run out and buy an "I'm With Mitt" t-shirt, it makes an inadvertent but hugely compelling pro-bullying argument.
- Chris Cabin, Slant Magazine, April 26, 2012
