At Any Price
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 26, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
14
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertApr 24, 2013
This is a brave, layered film that challenges the wisdom of victory at any price. Both of its central characters would slip easily into conventional plot formulas, but Bahrani looks deeply into their souls and finds so much more. Read full review
88
New York PostLou LumenickApr 25, 2013
One of the best films released so far this year, At Any Price signals the arrival of Iranian-American Ramin Bahrani in the ranks of major US directors. Read full review
88
ObserverRex ReedApr 23, 2013
Flawed but different, well-crafted and consistently powerful, At Any Price is the best film about impoverished farmers in the economic agricultural crisis since Jean Renoir’s "The Southerner." Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 25, 2013
Here's another film, along with "Mud," that's in the American grain, but a genetically conditioned grain of unforgiving fathers and overweening ambition. It's powerful stuff. Read full review
80
NPRElla TaylorApr 25, 2013
Like television's "Breaking Bad," At Any Price is about the slow, insidious corruption of a regular guy, about the rot that grows around him and within him, allowing him to become complicit in a crime of biblical proportions. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallMay 22, 2013
Efron makes hay with his richest role post-High School Musical, making Dean a rural rake with conflicting charisma. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMay 16, 2013
At Any Price teaches you a lot about the business of corn seeds and genetic manipulation (the stuff is actually fascinating) but what interests director Ramin Bahrani most are the dynamics of this deeply dysfunctional family. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 22, 2013
Beneath all the melodrama, beyond the fine performances, what sets At Any Price apart is the depiction of farming as it is today, the salesmanship, the traditions and ideals abandoned for greater profits and easier work and the ruthless world these patented “high yield” seeds have made. Read full review
75
The PlaylistOliver LytteltonMar 3, 2013
Powerful, engaging and, by the finale, moving. And in the end, At Any Price is certainly one of the most impressive reactions to the recent economic crisis (because that’s exactly what it is) that cinema has produced so far. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirApr 26, 2013
For me the breakthrough in At Any Price comes from 59-year-old Dennis Quaid, cementing his character-actor renaissance with what may be the nastiest role of his career. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenApr 23, 2013
Bahrani sometimes pushes too hard as he reaches for big drama. But when the story works, it has a dark power that draws shrewdly upon his two leads' screen charisma. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenApr 23, 2013
If At Any Price overstates its points, they are still worth making. And the hot-wired performances by Mr. Quaid and Mr. Efron drive them home in a movie that sticks to your ribs and stays in your head. Read full review
70
Village VoiceChris PackhamApr 23, 2013
Quaid has a genius for broadcasting conflicting impulses. His body language twists uncomfortably away from his intentions, and his smile is built on the chassis of a cringe. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMar 3, 2013
While the drama comes up a little short in emotional payoff, this is a thoughtful, nuanced film that vividly evokes life in a Midwestern community in which business often trumps friendship. It offers a rueful snapshot of the changing face of a quintessential element of American life. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianMarc MohanMay 17, 2013
By combining formulaic screenwriting and downbeat art house clichés, the ending puts a significant damper on what had been a fascinating character study. Read full review
67
IndieWireEric KohnMar 3, 2013
Too late, At Any Price displays the presence of a skilled filmmaker capable of using ambiguous pauses and representational imagery to convey the issues of greed and other covert desires. Until then, it's a slovenly affair only distinguished by its name cast. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMay 2, 2013
A roughly mixed but interestingly plotted offshoot of "Death of a Salesman." Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 25, 2013
Bahrani is a gifted filmmaker. But he shoots himself in the foot by throwing in a contrived plot device that creates drama at the expense of credibility. Suddenly, we're isolated from a film that had made us believe. It's a breach of trust that comes at too high a price. Read full review
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