Metacritic reviews

The issues deepen in a subtle, natural way: the film begins as a trifle and ends as something beautiful and affirmative. A classic.

A superbly lighthearted production, and the epitome of 1930s screwball comedies.

One of the great screwball comedies. [23 Jan 1998, p.N]

The Awful Truth is a perfect farce, devoid of any fat, in which Lucy and Jerry’s fantasies and schemes topple after one another like figurative dominoes.

It's one of those films in which even the dog is funny. [14 Mar 2004, p.9E]

A routine story perhaps, but McCarey transforms it , through his customary affection for his characters and taut pacing, into delightfully effective entertainment.

McCarey and his team of Dunne and Grant bring a patina of slapstick to this high-society story based on Arthur Richman's play and adapted for the screen by Vina Delmar. [03 Oct 1991, p.12]

Irene Dunne's way with a quip is to smile brightly and wring it dry, but she's at her best here.

Awfully unimportant, but it is also one of the more laughable screen comedies of 1937.

The film lacks the crackle of Grant’s later masterpieces yet there remains a great deal to enjoy here with an ending that surprises with its tenderness, not-so-subtle eroticism and visual wit.