Janie Jones received mixed reviews from critics who gave praise to the two main leads, but found Rosenthal's storytelling and direction lacking in terms of originality and tonal pacing.

A 13-year-old girl is abandoned by her meth-addicted former-groupie mother, after she informs Ethan Brand, an alcoholic, on-the-road, fading rock star, that Janie is his daughter, and he is not happy about it.

[3][4] Alessandro Nivola was given the script after shooting Coco Before Chanel in France for four months, and found it a great departure from the previous film he worked on due to the music grabbing his interest.

Despite the tonal dissonance in Rosenthal's direction of his own script, he called it "one of the more realistic depictions of what the rock 'n' roll lifestyle is really like", adding that the songs written by both Barzelay and Hayes make the concert scenes "look and sound like actual alt-rock shows.

"[19] Ray Bennett of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that: "The film's original songs are low key, the storytelling lacks any kind of vivid insights into life on the road that have not been seen before and the outcome is signposted clearly.

"[22] Ian Buckwalter of NPR felt that the focus shift to its two main leads in the second half improves the film slightly, saying that "Breslin remains as charismatic and instantly likable as she was in her Oscar-nominated role in Little Miss Sunshine, and the often under-the-radar Nivola shows the makings of a star."

"[20] Russo also praised both actors' performances, saying that Nivola does "a convincingly edgy downward spiral" done by his character and Breslin portrays the title role like "a kid believably rolling with adults' bad behavior because she doesn't know how else to respond.

"[21] In a review for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Abele said that Nivola "does a serviceable job conveying a certain kind of brittle, hotheaded flameout with remnants of musical soulfulness worth reviving" but felt that Breslin wasn't given much opposite him in a role that "should feel like more of a title character than a programmatic catalyst for his redemptive change.