with queries about trauma, loyalty, and race on its mind, "On the Count of Three" achieves something near impossible in its conclusion, distilling its themes into something both heartbreaking and disarmingly hopeful
while it's ultimately a little too messy to work quite as well as it could have, given the interesting and ambitious ingredients, "On the Count of Three" is proof that Jerrod Carmichael is a director to be excited about
this absurdity isn't easy to capture on screen, and On the Count of Three is an uneven movie, not quite sure how to balance its bleak subject matter with the comedy credentials of its writers and director/star
an imperfect but serious-minded debut; The story of a suicide pact that hits some speed bumps; it's hardly a black comedy -- more an appropriately sour (last) day-in-the-life that affords a few bitter laughs along the way
a suicide pact turns into killer buddy comedy in Jerrod Carmichael's debut; "On the Count of Three" can ultimately afford the temerity to thread the needle between comedy and desolation because of how Abbott and Carmichael work together
a self-consciously gimmicky buddy flick that’s informed with jolts of anguish and gallows humor; Jerrod Carmichael is a volatile director and an electric actor, but the screenplay routinely force the characters into formulaic, trivializing scenarios
a good movie exists in "On the Count of Three". But a film with such challenging subject matter needed a more experienced director capable of shading the dark comedy and the heartfelt spirit with an assured visual hand