Harry Is Here to Help
Miramax Home Entertainment | Release Date: April 20, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
25
Mixed:
3
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
A witty, frightening, well-acted picture with near-perfect cinematic timing.
100
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
A steady undertow of sex gives this French thriller a scintillating surface. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A suspenseful and delightfully creepy French drama. Read full review
90
Washington PostRita Kempley
A deliciously mordant French spine-tingler. Read full review
90
The New York TimesDave Kehr
A strange and funny film, smart, complex and difficult to shake. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Moll, in only his second feature, evokes a sense of foreboding, playing the routine against the unnerving, the humorous against the sinister, with a wit and deftness that might have impressed Hitchcock. Read full review
88
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Moll clearly has looked to Hitchcock and Clouzot for inspiration. There are sexual undercurrents between characters, psychological quirks and a murky veneer like the surface of the pool in "Diabolique." Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The actors and writing lend unexpected dimension to all of the characters, and Lopez's Harry is an indelible antagonist, one who manages to be genuinely big-hearted and evil.
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
From Harry's perspective, it's a grotesque life, a dead end for his new protege Michel, but Moll also shows the sensitivity beneath the sniping and that's where With a Friend Like Harry ... really scores Read full review
80
Mr. ShowbizCody Clark
Rises instantly above its genre merely by taking the time to develop its characters and scenario. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyF. X. Feeney
Moll ratchets his suspense with impressive mastery, wringing a maximum of excruciating terror out of the humblest everyday materials. Read full review
80
Film.comPeter Brunette
An insistent, insinuating film -- both in terms of its plot and characters, and in its impact on the viewer -- Harry's effects are small-scale but so perfectly pitched that they never seem small. Read full review
80
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Very, very funny, in that morbid sort of way that makes you laugh even as you shudder with horror. Read full review
80
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
This is a highly original film blessed with fetching complications all its own and some hair-raising turns of plot. Read full review
80
TimeRichard Schickel
This criminal comedy remains deliciously deadpan about the wages of psychopathy.
78
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Appropriately belongs to Lopez. His mannequin glaze and never-wavering smile provide more creepy-crawlies than a thousand quivering violins or perfectly timed thunderclaps. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Often darkly funny and very well acted, it's a pleasingly subtle, Hitchockian thriller with dark comic overtones.
75
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
The film is a small and polished gem that proves that with a friend like Harry, nobody needs an enemy.
75
USA TodayAndy Seiler
Director Dominik Moll knows how to make a gruesome-free thriller and even manages some dark laughs as he turns the screws. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A sleek little poison pill of a movie.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
We realize that the most frightening outcome of the movie would be if it contained no surprises, no revelations, no quirky twist at the end. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
A startling, suspenseful ride few will forget in a hurry. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
I did enjoy the movie's mercurial moods -- anxiety, terror, whimsical horror -- and I welcomed its confirmation that the work of the devil includes SUVs.
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Fans of the genre are in for a wickedly entertaining treat. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Critically lacks Highsmith's sixth sense for drawing you into the heart and soul of sociopaths, then jolting you with the realization that things are much worse even than they seem. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderRonnie Scheib
Almost too clever for its own good. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Moll's style is low-key and straightforward. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
As murderous amusements go, the film is mildly diverting, but it's like a faint facsimile of a Claude Chabrol film. Read full review
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