El Crimen Perfecto (The Perfect Crime)
Vitagraph Films | Release Date: August 19, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
De la Iglesia is a mercilessly agile talent. Read full review
90
Film ThreatEric Campos
A wicked good time. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
It's great fun, propelled by a terrific musical score by Roque Banos that combines the hammering doom of Bernard Herrmann, the antic jollity of Nino Rota and the urgent sprints of Lalo "Mission: Impossible" Schifrin--often in the same crazy scene. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Writer-director Alex de la Iglesia's bouncy, swaggering satire of ethics-deficient, survival-of-the-fittest free enterprise, peopled by broad grotesques and hysterical caricatures, adds Chabrolian callousness to a cartoonish worldview reminiscent of Frank Tashlin or Joe Dante at their most frenzied. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Perfectly delightful. Read full review
80
SalonStephanie Zacharek
El Crimen Perfecto is a joyride that leaves you feeling drunk and dizzy and swearing that you haven't touched a drop. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
Tremendously funny and entertaining. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
With his caustic humor, director de la Iglesia is being billed as "the next Almodovar." Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
If anyone is capable of pulling off a deviled screwball with cheeky panache, it's de la Iglesia, who's one of the world's great nutty directors yet to find the American following he so richly deserves. Read full review
70
The New York TimesLawrence Van Gelder
Mr. Toledo's performance as the shallow and cowardly, yet strangely sympathetic Rafael is a wonder of comic timing, while Ms. Cervera is unforgettable as Lourdes, the ugly duckling who becomes not a swan, but a monster. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
A seamless mix of satire and suspense, with inspired performances by Toledo and Monica Cervera. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
As it progresses from black comedy to something approaching surreal horror, El Crimen Perfecto swells into a nightmare reminiscent of Griffin Dunne's journey through Soho hell in "After Hours." Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJim Fusilli
Fits nicely among the contemporary comedies that teeter at the brink of delivering messages of one sort or another, but are in fact, nothing more than lots of fun. Which is no small achievement.
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerGianni Truzzi
Far from perfect, but it only commits minor infractions of inconsistency and zeal for every plot twist. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Hitchcock and Almodóvar this film isn't, but it's a worthwhile and fairly amusing effort. Read full review
63
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Fast, frantic and furious, but it is not steadily funny. While not boring, it is too light to be taken seriously. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
My advice is to choose the first half, where things are really funny until they aren't. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The first 60 minutes of this black comedy are brilliantly sustained, but then director and co-writer de la Iglesia loses his way. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJorge Morales
At its most ludicrously self-referential, the film achieves the perfect meta-moment when Toledo, seeking pointers on how to get away with murder, buys a copy of "Dial M for Murder" (released in Spain as Perfect Crime) and notices the title scans incorrectly as Ferpect Crime. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
There's not enough good material to fill the film's overlong 105 minutes. Is there an editor in the house? Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
El Crimen Perfecto has energy, color, spirit and lively performances, but what it does not have are very many laughs. Read full review
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