The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
Back to trending 
Old Fashioned
Romance · Drama · 2014
A reformed frat boy opens an antique store in a college town and falls for the free-spirited girl who moves into the apartment above his shop. In time, this unlikely pair fall into a traditional courtship.
Movie details
Old Fashioned
“Chivalry makes a comeback.”
2014 Romance · Drama 1h 55m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
A reformed frat boy opens an antique store in a college town and falls for the free-spirited girl who moves into the apartment above his shop. In time, this unlikely pair fall into a traditional courtship.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Old Fashioned?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Great Expectations
Drama · 2012
Orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
Really Love
Romance · 2020
A rising black painter tries to break into a competitive art world while balancing an unexpected romance with an ambitious law student.
Not Easily Broken
Drama · 2009
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Five Dances
Drama · 2013
A gifted young dancer arrives in New York City and joins the downtown contemporary dance world. With talent to burn, he soon must choose between his responsibility to his broken family in the Midwest, and forging a life and career for himself.
The Yellow Handkerchief
Drama · 2009
A road trip through Louisiana transforms three strangers who were originally brought together by their respective feelings of loneliness.
The Art of Getting By
Drama · 2011
George, a lonely and fatalistic teen who's made it all the way to his senior year without ever having done a real day of work, is befriended by Sally, a popular but complicated girl who recognizes in him a kindred spirit.
Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between
Romance · 2022
Clare and Aidan make a pact to break up before college — no regrets, no broken hearts. But will one epic goodbye date offer them a last chance at love?
Nine Lives
Drama · 2005
Captives of the very relationships that define and sustain them, nine women resiliently meet the travails and disappointments of life.
Endless Love
Drama · 2014
A privileged girl and a charismatic boy's instant desire sparks a love affair made only more reckless by parents trying to keep them apart.
Forever First Love
Drama · 2020
Paul travels the world to capture the perfect photographic moment. Amid the colour and chaos of a crowded Filipino market, destiny intervenes when Paul’s first love, Anna appears in his lens. The travellers spend the day exploring the beauty of a 16th century town and whilst passions reignite, their principles on relationships, religion and morality clash. The night they spend together will change everything.
Where it lives
Watch in your region.
Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.
Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.
Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Rik Swartzwelder
Written by
Rik Swartzwelder
Elizabeth Roberts
Amber
Rik Swartzwelder
Clay
LeJon Woods
David
Tyler Hollinger
Brad
Dorothy Silver
Aunt Zella
K
Kilina Jellel
Hotel Manager
Court is in session
Put Old Fashioned on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.