Flame and Citron
IFC Films | Release Date: July 31, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
74
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Though the material might lend itself to heavy-handedness, director Ole Christian Madsen is steady, and he gets fine performances from the two leads and Stengade. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterErica Abeel
This searing, stylish account of World War II heroism from Denmark's Ole Christian Madsen avoids period realism, conveying the story of two heroes of the Danish resistance as a noir thriller, complete with shadowy alleys, double-crosses galore and the requisite femme fatale. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
A pretty good example of the kind of movie Hollywood used to turn out by the yard. Read full review
80
VarietyTodd McCarthy
An absorbing, shades-of-gray look at home-front intrigue in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II. Ole Christian Madsen’s accomplished fourth feature plays out on a much larger canvas than he’s used previously and offers nuance and ambiguity in equal measure with violence and tragedy. Read full review
80
Village VoiceElla Taylor
Flame & Citron is the film that the horribly overrated "Black Book" could have been, had Paul Verhoeven not indulged in the puerile reversals of sensitive Nazis and treacherous partisans. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A deeply involving look at people living permanently on the knife-edge of danger, Flame & Citron does more than radically rethink the World War II resistance drama. Its biggest accomplishment may be to make these historical conflicts and dilemmas seem surprisingly contemporary. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A drop-dead gorgeous period noir, rife with paranoia, femmes fatales, and good men inexorably sinking into the bloody mire and opaque texture of life (and death) during wartime. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Director Ole Christian Madsen combines sharp scenes of moral inquiry with a few too many functional, oldfangled espionage twists. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
One of the most expensive Danish movies ever made, and at times, it's glossy to a fault. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate Taylor
A satisfying thriller interestingly complicated by its study of character and compromise. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A taut, handsome production -- the most expensive Danish film to date -- and it looks like a film noir, as indeed the costumes, cars, guns and fugitives force it to. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Through a fluke of release-schedule timing, it arrives as the anti-“Inglourious Basterds’’ - a story about heroic Nazi-killers in which heroism itself sinks under bewildering crosscurrents of motive and uncertainty. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The movie often feels more like film noir than a war picture both in the way it is shot and in the manner in which the characters are handled. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad Derakhshani
With its moody, noir lighting and poetic voice-over, Flame rehearses virtually every element of the classic genre piece: violence, sex and romance, gunplay, spies, betrayals, a femme fatale, and a murderous Gestapo officer. Read full review
75
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," Flame and Citron is the story of handsome rogues with guns. It's fast-paced, stylish and thrilling. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
If you're looking for an action thriller, this isn't it. The pace is deliberate, the tone is pensive, albeit punctuated by occasional violence, and the style is exceedingly lean; characters reveal themselves mainly through moral choices. Read full review
70
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
What Flame & Citron has are decent men taking down Nazis (always a crowd pleaser) and some appealing actors — notably Mr. Lindhardt, Mr. Mikkelsen and Christian Berkel as the head of the Copenhagen Gestapo. Read full review
70
NPRMark Jenkins
The movie's storytelling can be as old-fashioned as its appearance. Some sequences are quick and messy, but others are grand and theatrical. Read full review
63
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe Williams
While it may not be a smorgasbord of red herrings and red meat, Flame and Citron is often chilling. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
As directed by Ole Christian Madsen, the thriller features well-choreographed shootouts and assassinations. But the script is too melodramatic and complicated for its own good. Read full review
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