Caught in the Web
levelFILM | Release Date: November 27, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
5
Negative:
5

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungDec 5, 2013
In this fast-moving, densely plotted black dramedy, a faux scandal raised by an ambitious web TV editor comes close to destroying a number of lives, offering a masterful panorama on urban, middle class China. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 4, 2014
Caught in the Web is of little interest as entertainment, and if it were set in an unimportant or overly familiar country, it would be entirely forgettable. Read full review
50
The PlaylistGabe ToroDec 9, 2013
Caught In The Web grows slack as its premise evolves. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineDavid Lee DallasNov 26, 2013
The film opts for didactic resolution instead of fully committing to the contradictions in identity and agency its main character embodies. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearNov 26, 2013
No stranger to controversy, Fifth Generation Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige (Farewell, My Concubine) has always taken his country to task over bureaucratic and social issues; here, the director goes after both old-media exploitation and new-media omnipresence, and the result is less than cutting. Read full review
40
The DissolveNathan RabinNov 26, 2013
The screenplay relies far too heavily on coincidences, misunderstandings, and characters purposefully not saying things for reasons rooted in plot contrivances rather than clear motivation. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyDec 11, 2013
Since making an ill-fated attempt at Hollywood with 2002’s "Killing Me Softly," Chen Kaige has slipped further and further out of relevance. Now even his elegant sense of style — the one thing keeping later efforts like "Forever Enthralled" afloat — seems to be slipping away. Case in point: Chen’s new film, Caught In The Web. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesInkoo KangDec 10, 2013
Chen's grand opus about the perils of the Internet already feels obsolete. Read full review
30
The New York TimesNicolas RapoldNov 26, 2013
A messy collision of strained portrayals, semi-comic incidents and tear-jerking tactics. Read full review
25
NPRTomas HachardNov 27, 2013
There's a stiffness to the actors' performances that reinforces the film's ambiguous tone. And Chen's use of jump cuts is jarring and arbitrary, their ubiquity upping the ante on the film's already tiring hyperactivity. Read full review
20
Village VoiceNick SchagerNov 26, 2013
Amid much overacting, Kaige addresses the subjectivity and unreliability of images through this-isn't-what-it-looks-like scenarios that would make Jack Tripper groan. Read full review
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