Focus
Paramount Classics | Release Date: October 19, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie's surreal style, with its film-noir camerawork and ominous lighting, turns the story into a fable about fear and nonconformism, and Mr. Macy's and Ms. Dern's carefully shaded caricatures match the mood. Read full review
60
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Dern and Macy give doughty performances in schematic roles, but glasses or no, these have to be two of the least Semitic-looking actors in American movies. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
This insidiously complex satire is filled with apparent digressions, and our complete identification with the man occurs so gradually that it's impossible to pinpoint just when our previous disdain becomes a position of relative comfort. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyPaul Malcolm
A hyperreal, visually layered period style that finds film noir shadows creeping in at the edges of a blue-sky, get-along-to-go-along America. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The script is full of holes and the premise is not especially credible. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Works better as a subject for high school study rather than lasting art. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Even if they're on the side of the angels, 106 minutes is a long time to keep this sermon going. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A movie worth viewing. Besides, it's the only movie to boast NYC millionaire mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg as its executive producer. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Seems embalmed in its own time, an earnest and handsomely crafted museum piece, not an urgent transposition of Miller's moral outrage to the new century.
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
No denying the relevance of the tale. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Only David Paymer -- and the actor formerly known as the singer Meat Loaf, playing Newman's suspicious neighbor, ring true. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The film is rich in period detail and a keen visual sense of irony, but it's curiously static; scenes that blister the pages of Miller's novel barely move. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
The topic certainly suits the times, but the director's approach is as alienating as it is old-fashioned. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
While Macy is persuasive, much of Focus is not. Read full review
40
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
Relevant message aside, there's no good reason to sit through photographer Neal Slavin's directorial debut.
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