Flawless
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: November 24, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
17
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TNT RoughCutJoel Schumacher
It's clear that Schumacher has risen from the self-imposed dreck of "Batman & Robin" and has returned to Hollywood to tell a good story.
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It says a lot for Joel Schumacher's Flawless that you can see the picture's high-concept heart a mile away and still be won over by it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
More fable than slice of life, and all these people and props give Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman their opening to create two screwy characters from opposite ends of the great personality divide Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Contrived and overly schematic, but De Niro and Hoffman are such good actors that it never slips into pat sentiment. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A smartly crafted throwback to the gritty Manhattan crime melodramas of the '40s . Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
One of the season's biggest delights. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleSarah Hepola
Not content to whisper its truths; it would rather flaunt its valuable lessons and its good intentions, proudly boasting its sentiments like a (rainbow-striped) badge of honor. Read full review
66
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Perhaps most depressingly, in pulling out all the stops for an ugly, violent climax, he (Schumacher) cheapens this vividly drawn slice of life, turning it into a tiresomely flawed, garden-variety vigilante thriller.
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Worth stumbling into on cable not all that far into next year.
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Flawless this Joel Schumacher film is not, but it plays so well that scarcely matters. Read full review
60
Film.comPeter Brunette
If you want to see an object lesson in how brilliant acting can transcend high concept, this movie's for you. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This surprisingly grim comedy-drama is about as good as director Joel Schumacher gets. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This 'heartwarming' thriller refuses to distinguish realism from stylization, and much of the plot is a twisted mess of repetition and unpersuasive motivation. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It finally just rings false as a human drama. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
An appallingly crude film, with dialogue lifted off bumper stickers, characters stitched together from shorthand clichés (the brassy black drag queen; the fiery little Latin number) and a plot that's on cruise control from the opening credits. Read full review
50
Film.comElizabeth Weitzman
A small-scale mess. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
At its best when it simply lets Hoffman and De Niro play off each other .
50
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
It's obvious and stereotypical. It's leaden and unconvincing. It's not nearly as outrageous as it thinks it is.
50
VarietyEmanuel Levy
Schumacher takes a step in the right direction with Flawless, a small-scale, intimate serio-comedy. Read full review
50
Film.comJohn Hartl
Crass and depressing drama. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
De Niro gives a technically brilliant performance as Walt, struggling with a body that will no longer obey him.
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
So awful it just might put an end to Hollywood's hypocritical infatuation with men in drag as symbols of its own supposedly liberated sexual attitudes. Read full review
50
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Flawless never approaches the rancid bluster of "8MM," but it's an equally dishonest piece of manipulative hackwork. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
A coy seriocomedy distantly related to--but missing the sting of--"Kiss of the Spider Woman." Read full review
40
SalonCharles Taylor
You need a pair of huge, hairy ones to make a picture this bad and call it Flawless. Read full review
40
SlateEliza Truitt
Corny, predictable, and packed with gay stereotypes.
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Hoffman's turn as the drag queen has its endearing and comically catty moments, but Flawless' utter phoniness subsumes all efforts at honest acting. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
In making a movie that preaches love for odd ducks, Schumacher has turned Flawless into the oddest duck of all.
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
A long, slow pity party full of characters who constantly bemoan their fate while telling other people not to pity themselves. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Save your breath, and your money. Read full review
33
Portland OregonianDiana Abu-Jaber
While this film has got a good head on its shoulders and a nicely made-up face, flawless it's not.
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
This noisy, disorganized story is riddled with clichés, stereotypes, and self-indulgence from beginning to end. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerWesley Morris
Flawless is what happens when a filmmaker has no sense of naturalism, no sense of realism and no real natural sense. Read full review
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