Big Trouble
Buena Vista Pictures | Release Date: April 5, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
14
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Zigging and zagging serenely between the extremes of deadpan, postmodern comedy and the antic, Max Sennett-style japery of yore. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
This is, after all, the kind of movie in which traffic accidents not only mess up getaways but also liberate goats to wander through the airport. We need more of that stuff. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
A slick, smart-alecky rat-a-tat crime comedy. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Timing is key in a comedy like this, and Sonnenfeld keeps everyone and everything clicking. The pacing is swift and the laughs are steady. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
With a cast of characters so large that Robert Altman would feel at home, Big Trouble manages to do a lot of clever little things and generate quite a few big laughs without wearing out its welcome. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
There are stretches of big fun in Big Trouble, and little pleasures too. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The script is consistently humorous, even if a few punch lines are predictable and the wit is neither highbrow nor split-a-gut funny. Read full review
70
Film ThreatGareth Von Kallenbach
Light-hearted and enjoyable film that will have you exiting the theater with a smile. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
A gleefully overplotted crime yarn that channels in sanitized form the perverse subtropical-noir sensibilities of Carl Hiassen. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's the kind of movie you can't quite recommend because it is all windup and not much of a pitch, yet you can't bring yourself to dislike it. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
A comedy that doesn't work if you think about it too much. Cut it some slack, however, and you just might have a good time.
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
With all its misfires, though, and with a Strangelovian twist that's a dud, Big Trouble remains a reasonably pleasant way to spend an hour and a half and still get change.
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
There are some decent jokes along the way. And none of the performances is bad. But they are limited by the script, which allows each character only one comic note. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It seems naive, almost delusional. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
A feature that suffers from the rarity of its wit yet benefits from the briskness of its pace. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
The folks at Disney's Touchstone Pictures would have been wiser, however, just to have forgotten all about this hyperactive farce. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The cast manages to maintain its dignity while sweat and dirt go flying around. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Sonnenfeld mishandles the broad part of the comedic formula, preferring repetition to thematic development. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
It's a letdown from the man who brought us "Men in Black" and "Addams Family Values." Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Such a feebleminded, good-natured comedy that it actually makes you laugh with that timeless gag of somebody pretending to cough while calling someone else a bad name. Read full review
50
Village VoiceNick Rutigliano
Cute intentions and shaggy comedy only get you so far when the world is falling down around you. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
It's a tribute to the film's goofy, inconsequential charm that it's still possible to laugh as someone sneaks a bomb past airport security. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A pleasant diversion, a lightly amusing criminal comedy with a plot so complicated even the people in it can't quite believe what's happening. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
It's something we might mildly enjoy on an airplane (well, not anymore) or on a lazy Sunday TV day when nothing else is on, but in theaters, it's a clunker. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe Leydon
A genially amusing ensemble farce that doesn't quite achieve enough momentum for liftoff. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeRenee Graham
Juggles so many stories and characters, nothing ever develops into more than a rough sketch. Read full review
30
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's not the bomb on the plane that scuttles this film: It's the mugging, ham-fisted direction and total absence of comic timing. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
A mediocre movie that will be wiped from its stars' résumés with head-spinning speed.
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
What remains discomforting is their sheer failure to be funny. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Lazy, infinitely silly cartoon. Read full review
20
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The big problem with Big Trouble, despite a fine cast and director (Sonnenfeld made "Get Shorty" and "Men in Black"), is that the damn thing isn't funny. Read full review
20
New Times (L.A.)Robert Wilonsky
Feels like an in-joke, a party where everyone on the screen's having a better time than anyone in the theater, and they all couldn't care less. And that's just no fun at all.
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