Deadfall
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: December 7, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
9
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
SalonAndrew O'HehirDec 7, 2012
It's a tight, taut, expertly crafted thriller from a director to watch. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnNov 28, 2012
A bonafide family drama, proof that the noir has humanistic roots. It left me feeling thankful for persistent movie traditions. Read full review
80
VarietyRob NelsonNov 28, 2012
A highly satisfying Western-cum-noir in the old tradition, Deadfall is alive in ways that are all too rare among American movies. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonDec 14, 2012
Bana ("Munich") makes an effective bad guy. Hunnam portrays Jay as a hero worth rooting for. And Wilde turns in a nuanced performance as a woman in conflict with herself. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanDec 6, 2012
There's a powerfully creepy sensibility to Deadfall. But the way it handles the messiness of families -- a universal message given vivid metaphorical life in the blood and guts it leaves in its path -- is finally rewarding. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedDec 4, 2012
Deadfall is an above-average genre piece with a terrific cast that builds to a bloody Thanksgiving dinner shoot-out I found pretty close to unforgettable. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla DargisDec 6, 2012
A diverting neo-noir, Deadfall brings to mind those dark, old-fashioned entertainments in rotation on Turner Classic Movies that suck you in with their genre machinery, sullen beauties and despair. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyNov 28, 2012
Tonally, Deadfall seems to be aiming somewhere between Sam Raimi's "A Simple Plan" and the brilliant Pine Barrens episode of "The Sopranos," with a classic Western showdown at its climax. But the pedestrian writing holds it back. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliNov 28, 2012
Deadfall suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed. Read full review
55
NPRMark JenkinsDec 7, 2012
The movie's violence, although gruesome, flirts with slapstick, and the story appears bound for domestic comedy when all the major characters sit down for Thanksgiving dinner at June and Chet's grand Victorian farmhouse. But the meal becomes more freak show than satire. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoDec 23, 2012
Despite a super-dark noir plot and respectable cast, Deadfall is a thriller that never quite delivers on its promise. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorDec 6, 2012
Solid performances from veterans Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson as Jay's parents, and Treat Williams as the sheriff, anchor the older generation, but the characters do tend to conform to stereotypes of hard, unforgiving men and loving, patient women. Read full review
50
TimeRichard CorlissDec 6, 2012
Deadfall, though, is a thing of pieces: splendidly efficient in its action sequences (car crash, knife fight, snowmobile chase), dawdling in dialogue scenes that should smolder with tension. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanDec 5, 2012
There isn't much to the characters in this morose thriller. Read full review
50
Village VoiceSimon AbramsDec 4, 2012
There are hints of a fun, trashy film beneath the surface, but that film is always subservient to the dull one Dean and Ruzowitzky were more comfortable making. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayDec 5, 2012
The best parts of Deadfall are absorbed into a scenario that frequently ditches the cat-and-mouse routine and tries instead to be about three dysfunctional families working toward reconciliation. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 6, 2012
Some of the language is smart, sinister and ironic in just the right ways, particularly when Addison, Eric Bana's serial-killing mastermind, delivers it. In other cases, the dialogue is so ludicrously off - either unnecessary, or unnecessarily misogynistic if a cop is doing the talking - that it's hard to believe the same person wrote it. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierDec 6, 2012
If Deadfall had more life, it might have been about more than just its wannabe edge. Ruzowitzky, whose 2007 film "The Counterfeiters" won a Best Foreign Film Oscar, understands the movie's simple plan. But it nonetheless puts us into a big sleep. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickDec 7, 2012
There's nothing you haven't seen before - and better - in Deadfall, which would seem to appeal mostly to fans of snowmobile chases. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrDec 6, 2012
Wilde is stuck with the harder job of simultaneously playing sexy, innocent, conniving, and heartsore, and the effort appears to give her a headache. "This is kind of like an old movie," Liza says to Jay in one scene. Lady, don't you wish. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineChris CabinNov 28, 2012
None of Eric Bana's mildly rousing moments clearly rise above the laborious gobbledygook that Ruzowitzky builds up through the course of the film's 94-minute duration. Read full review
25
The PlaylistDrew TaylorDec 6, 2012
Watching Deadfall really is like being trapped in a blizzard – the cinematography is so muddy you can barely make out what's going on on screen (besides the bright splashes of blood) – you're antsy to be anywhere else but where you are. Read full review
20
Time OutSam AdamsDec 4, 2012
Ruzowitzky (The Counterfeiters) may be an occasionally interesting visual stylist, but storytelling-wise, his second English-language effort couldn't be more stillborn. Read full review
20
Boxoffice MagazineNick SchagerNov 28, 2012
A crime saga cobbled together from scraps of genre predecessors, Deadfall's unbelievable silliness escalates at every turn. Read full review
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