I NEED THAT Reviews

Green in NYT is complementary toward the Devitos; mixed on the play.

Danny DeVito returns to Broadway in a Theresa Rebeck comedy about a lonely old man lost in a houseful of junk.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/theater/i-need-that-review-danny-devito.html

"But because whatever will happen cannot do so until the last few of the play’s 100 minutes, most of what Rebeck offers is filler. Both Amelia and Foster are given grudges and secrets to pass the time. At least Amelia’s feel real enough, perhaps because Lucy DeVito, in her Broadway debut, is no nepo baby; she’s a fine comic actor, hitting every joke and clapback with a clean thwack. But Thomas is unable to make Foster more than a codger-comedy contrivance, despite or because of a tacked-on sad story and a not-very-credible interest in Sam’s trash."

Deadline: ‘I Need That’ Broadway Review: Danny DeVito Steals Laughs From A Junk Pile

https://deadline.com/2023/11/danny-devito-i-need-that-broadway-review-1235589573/

"Admittedly, many in the audience that night seemed happy to overlook the shortcomings, and the reason was obvious: It’s hard to imagine a comic actor better equipped to handle seat-of-the-pants exasperation than the beloved Danny DeVito. This is a man who got one of the night’s biggest laughs with a single, improvised muttered “Broadway!” when the large junked-up-house refused to swivel on cue. He earned every last ovation that night."

Chicago Tribune Review: An always funny Danny DeVito double-teams with his daughter in Broadway’s ‘I Need That’

https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/theater/broadway/ct-ent-danny-devito-broadway-need-that-review-20231103-oyeb6akghnhxpi47yvhzy5jnxe-story.html

"Overall, this piece doesn’t land at the top of Rebeck’s impressively diverse oeuvre, and I’d wager you’ll see some things coming far faster than any fire department. But I’m partial to plays that deal with experiences almost everyone shares and throwing stuff out is far higher on the list of life traumas than you might think."

Slant: I Need That Review: Buried by His Past

I Need That is a vehicle built for two that mostly just spins its wheels.

https://www.slantmagazine.com/theater/i-need-that-review-danny-devito-theresa-rebeck/

2 stars from NYP

‘I Need That’ review: DeVito is a hoarder in a messy Broadway play

https://nypost.com/2023/11/02/entertainment/i-need-that-review-devito-is-a-hoarder-in-messy-broadway-play/

Theatrely is negative

I NEED THAT Hoards Up Drama — Review

https://www.theatrely.com/post/i-need-that-hoards-up-drama-review

"Very little of the dialogue is of particular significance and, whether made to feel improvised or simply under-rehearsed by the cast, has a meandering quality that quickly becomes grating. The elder DeVito performs his cantankerous shtick well, and his daughter does what she can against a character who, even when objectively correct, is written with a shrillness that renders her arguments moot. Thomas is a calming presence, though his character must gesture towards two inane thematic attempts at exploring class and race which seem like a second-draft attempt at introducing drama."

DTLI Consensus: It’s always mediocre at the American Airlines (for now).

8 mixed (including the NYT), 2 positive, 1 negative.

https://didtheylikeit.com/shows/i-need-that/

So the overall consensus seems to be that the actors are doing good work with a fairly insubstantial script.

Holden for Vulture is negative:

https://www.vulture.com/2023/11/theater-review-i-need-that-danny-lucy-devito.html

"There’s a cynicism at work when a show doesn’t do more than outline its characters, then dares you to notice or care by putting a total real-life character, like Danny DeVito, smack-dab in its center. It’s clear the audience is here to have a good time with a star who’s turned Zhlubby Eccentric Rascal into a personal art form. And, yes, DeVito is — true to that form — an appealingly weird-while-being-familiar presence as he grouses and whines and shuffles around in his boxer shorts, pulling faces and pronouncing “water” with approximately three syllables (“woo-aw-tuh”). But no actor can make a show work when a play is so set on phoning it in. When Sam is describing his time as a military file clerk, he sums it up succinctly enough: “boring but better than getting shot at.” Sometimes a play reviews itself."

Nepo baby gets her start. Thanks, Dad.

Impeach2017 said: "Nepo baby gets her start. Thanks, Dad."

Although this is her Broadway debut, she has an extensive career in off-Broadway and regional theatre, as well as film and television (including 3 years on "Melissa & Joey") - the "nepo baby" argument is a bit reductive here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_DeVito

KevinKlawitter said: "So the overall consensus seems to be that the actors are doing good work with a fairly insubstantial script."

Which is something that can be said about basically every production of a Rebeck play for... twenty years, I'd say?

Updated On: 11/5/23 at 10:06 AM