Back to trending
Janie Jones

Janie Jones

Drama · Music · 2010

When a fading musician (Alessandro Nivola) learns he has a teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) from a long-ago tryst, he’s forced to take her on tour after her mother checks into rehab.

Movie details

Janie Jones

“Two strangers. One family.”

2010 Drama · Music 1h 54m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.3 / 10

Community rating

When a fading musician (Alessandro Nivola) learns he has a teenage daughter (Abigail Breslin) from a long-ago tryst, he’s forced to take her on tour after her mother checks into rehab.

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 Janie Jones?

The 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.

I Saw the Light

I Saw the Light

Music · 2016

Singer and songwriter Hank Williams rises to fame in the 1940s, but alcohol abuse and infidelity take a toll on his career and marriage to fellow musician Audrey Mae Williams.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

Drama · 2025

Bruce Springsteen, a young musician on the cusp of global superstardom, struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past.

Coda

Coda

Music · 2020

A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.

Teen Spirit

Teen Spirit

Music · 2019

A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.

Grace Unplugged

Grace Unplugged

Drama · 2013

A talented young singer and aspiring songwriter’s Christian faith and family ties are tested when she defies her worship-pastor father and pursues pop-music stardom in GRACE UNPLUGGED, a moving and inspiring new film that explores the true meaning of success.

Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls

Drama · 2006

A trio of female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960s, facing their own personal struggles along the way.

Eddie and the Cruisers

Eddie and the Cruisers

Drama · 1983

A television newswoman picks up the story of a 1960s rock band whose long-lost leader — Eddie Wilson — may still be alive, while searching for the missing tapes of the band's never-released album.

Bravetown

Bravetown

Drama · 2015

After an accidental drug overdose, a talented teenage DJ goes to live with his estranged father in a small Army town, where he gets to the bottom of his own pain and learns empathy for others.

Jersey Boys

Jersey Boys

Music · 2014

A musical biopic of the Four Seasons—the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert, it gets to the heart of the relationships at the centre of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli, the small kid with the big falsetto.

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody

Music · 2022

The joyous, emotional, heartbreaking celebration of the life and music of Whitney Houston, the greatest female R&B pop vocalist of all time. Tracking her journey from obscurity to musical superstardom.

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.

Directed by

David M. Rosenthal

Written by

David M. Rosenthal

Abigail Breslin

Abigail Breslin

Janie Jones

Alessandro Nivola

Alessandro Nivola

Ethan Brand

Elisabeth Shue

Elisabeth Shue

Mary Ann Jones

Brittany Snow

Brittany Snow

Iris

Peter Stormare

Peter Stormare

Sloan

Joel David Moore

Joel David Moore

Dave

Frances Fisher

Frances Fisher

Lily

Court is in session

Put Janie Jones on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

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.

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.