Interview with the Assassin
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: November 15, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
60
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Chicago ReaderJ. R. Jones
A gripping and carefully calibrated suspense story. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Barry's deliberately unspectacular performance makes this even more powerful. He gives "Assassin" a disquieting authority. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This film offers a compelling scenario of what could have happened. And Burger's look back through the recent mists of time is certainly no less likely or fascinating that Oliver Stone's in "JFK." Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The film's best trick is the way that it treats conspiracy as a kind of political ''Blair Witch,'' a monstrous murk that haunts us precisely because it can never be seen. Read full review
75
Chicago TribunePatrick Z. McGavin
Neil Burger's sharply conceived, inventive movie is a highly involving piece of work. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Director Neil Burger manages to make his technical deficiencies and clumsy interviews work for the credibility of his story rather than against it, and he builds an eerie, naturalistic suspense that's believable enough to raise an authentic goose bump or two. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Far removed from being a Hollywood production. There are no big-name actors and no fancy camera work. But that's what makes it interesting. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Smartly conceived and meticulously executed, if too slight and gimmicky to have much resonance. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
May be something of a stunt, but it's a fascinating stunt that holds your attention from the start to shortly before the finish.
70
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Do not read too much into Burger's mockumentary, then; it's just having a lark, poking fun at conspiracy theorists, taking the piss out of the dozens of docs out there that present themselves as The Real Story About the Killing of John Kennedy. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Like ''Blair,'' it never quite finds a way out of its own built-in dead-end. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Barry, with a raspy Southern accent, gives a chilling portrait of a man who is absolutely sure he killed JFK. Whether he's a psychopath or a schizophrenic is not satisfactorily answered, but it's a fascinating question nonetheless. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyJon Strickland
Burger at first toys with his unlikely premise, panning through the streets of this stuccoed suburbia as if meditating on the banality of evil, and indeed, our first few encounters with the assassin. Read full review
60
VarietyWalter Dawkins
Satisfying picture that like a pot of water on the stove keeps heating up until it explodes. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Mr. Burger has a performer who can dart between stentorian self-assurance and cringing pathos, maintaining his character's ambiguity until the final sequence of this resourceful and ingenious entertainment. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
It's an interesting effort (particularly for JFK conspiracy nuts), and Barry's cold-fish act makes the experience worthwhile. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
More shaggy dog story than a contribution to the ever-growing mountain of fact and fiction dealing with the Kennedy assassination, Neil Burger's feature film debut is a cleverly crafted but ultimately hollow mockumentary. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
Few of the increasingly far-fetched events that first-time writer-director Neil Burger follows up with are terribly convincing, which is a pity, considering Barry's terrific performance. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Burger knows how to shoot and this is one feature where the dingy digital imagery arguably makes sense, but it's too bad he didn't work harder at finding something more original with which to test his talent than the JFK assassination and the gimmick of the phony nonfiction film. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
No "JFK," but the story is weirdly compelling when it focuses on the journalist's growing paranoia as he plunges ever more deeply into a world of conspiracies that may or may not really exist. Read full review
50
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Pitched somewhere between Oliver Stone's "JFK" and the Seinfeld parody thereof, Neil Burger's debut never quite transcends jokester status -- it's a veritable menagerie of shaggy dogs, red herrings, and wild geese -- and the punchline doesn't live up to Barry's dead-eyed, perfectly chilled delivery. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
The movie's storytelling is limp, and writer-director Neil Burger's ultimate unwillingness to commit to a point of view -- was this guy really the assassin? -- seems artistically chicken-hearted. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
It's just a gimmick, right down to its Washington release date. Read full review
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