Don't Come Knocking
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 17, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
55
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
12
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Beautifully shot in rich colors by Franz Lustig, it's possibly Wenders' most accessible film to date, and among his most emotionally satisfying. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
With its wonderful veteran cast, its heart on its sleeve, and a love for the landscape that suffuses its technique, Don't Come Knocking is a peculiar but rewarding escape. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
There's something a little absurd about this story, but for me, it's endearingly goofy. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Shepard's charisma has always reached back to an earlier time, so it's easy to accept him as a kind of pre-counterculture hero - Eastwood without the sneer - who aged into the era of tabloid scandal. Read full review
70
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
It has long been clear that Shepard is a rare double talent. He has flourished, rightly, as a playwright, and he is also a compelling film actor. His face does more for the reality of this picture than anything he wrote in the script. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Don't Come Knocking expresses itself with deadpan humor, striking imagery, Western iconography and outbursts of strong emotions. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Filled with haunting visual panoramas. One of the most resonant is a nighttime shot of the Elko skyline dominated by a glittering casino. Evoking a once and future gold rush, it says more about the Old West and the New West than all of Mr. Shepard's elliptical, stagy dialogue can muster. Such powerful images make Don't Come Knocking well worth contemplating. Read full review
67
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
It rarely strikes the right tone and ultimately falls short of what one would expect from a collaboration between director Wim Wenders and writer Sam Shepard. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Judged on any kind of rational level, this film is a mess, and Fairuza Balk, as a punky friend of Howard's son, gives the single most annoying performance I have ever seen. But Franz Lustig's cinematography has a Walker Evans-like power. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The finest scene in Don't Come Knocking is its quietest...The movie could have used a lot more of it. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are scenes that don't even pretend to work. And others that have a sweetness and visual beauty that stops time and simply invites you to share. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
T Bone Burnett's soundtrack has the appropriate twang to give Wenders' Hopperesque tableaux a nice, filmic poetry. But as arresting as the images are, Shepard's clunky, soap-opera banter brings most everything, and everyone, crashing down to earth. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
Superb supporting performances from Polley and Baulk go some way to making up for our hero's lesser qualities. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Strikes some resonant chords but also hits notes that simply don't ring true and are borderline risible at times Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
For all of its minor pleasures, this encore lacks the depth of its conviction. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
It's a beautiful mess, but it's a mess all the same. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The theatrical monologues come close to defeating him (Wenders), and only Jessica Lange, as one of Shepard's abandoned girlfriends, manages to avoid cliche. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
With its brilliant cast, its creative pedigree, Don't Come Knocking seemed as close to a sure thing as possible, but it only proves the sad truth that there's no such thing as a sure thing. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
Only Lange is a powerful enough presence to raise a flicker of realistic emotion from this kind of stuff. Read full review
50
Film ThreatMatthew Sorrento
The narrative that unfolds in the wake of Spence's journey recalls "Paris" but walks too heavy for a character study to gel. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
After a funny, highly promising start, Don't Come Knocking starts to fall apart, displaying all of Wenders' weaknesses, too. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
It's "Broken Flowers" with bourbon and ten-gallons and meta-country soundtrack warbles. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
In what is more a cry of regret than a coherent story, Shepard's character mopes his way through meetings with an old girlfriend (Jessica Lange) and the grown children he sired, the only apparent lesson being that bad behavior has a way of circling back on you. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Crust
Despite a fine cast, the film feels as lost as Howard, unsure of its direction or tone. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle Smith
It's all interspersed with strange attempts at comedy that fail on two levels: They're not funny, and they puncture what little drama there is. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
So radiantly awful that, given the egghead credentials of the director and his screenwriter and star Sam Shepard, I initially took the charitable route and assumed I was in the presence of parody. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Pretentious drama. Read full review
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