Little Odessa
Cine Saison | Release Date: May 19, 1995 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
6
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The New York TimesCaryn James
Little Odessa might have been a great film. Instead, it is an exceptionally good one, the kind that suggests the start of a powerful career. Read full review
88
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Little Odessa is an extremely complex motion picture, layered with powerful themes and fascinating characters. Read full review
80
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
The film has a thesis: hitmen must have psychopathy on their CVs; but even bad guys have souls. It's Roth's tough job to illustrate this, which, in his finest performance to date, he does magnificently. Read full review
80
VarietyDavid Rooney
A highly charged, coolly assured directorial bow graced by riveting work from a trio of accomplished leads, Little Odessa immediately etches a firm place on the map for 25-year-old New York newcomer James Gray. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Filmmaker Gray, only 25 when he made this, expertly delineates the restive characters in this Jewish emigre community, and the existential voids among them all. He's helped by assured, subtle performances all around Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
Like something by Tolstoy or Dostoyevski, but -- of course -- on a much smaller, less ambitious scale, it is a work that weighs on your mind long after you leave it. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeJay Carr
A rich mood piece, a study in bleakness, spiritual exhaustion and death. [02 June 1995, p.56]
75
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Little Odessa is a portrait of New York subcultures, the Russian immigrant community itself and the orginizatsya, or Russian mafia, that employs Joshua. The cityscapes are wintry and menacing. The characters have a strong pulse. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
In Little Odessa, Gray proves that you can go down what looks like a familiar road and make it seem much less traveled. [30 June 1995, p.06]
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchStaff (Not Credited)
Despite its flaws, Little Odessa haunts the memory. [30 June 1995, p.3G]
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
It's a downbeat flick forged by an upbeat talent - despite the angst in the frames, you can feel the joy of the framer. [23 June 1995]
60
Los Angeles TimesPeter Rainer
Gray hasn't filled out the emotional terrain he's surveyed here. He hasn't quite grown into the emotions he wants to put on screen. When he does, he'll come up with something lasting. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It seemed to me that the movie had raised too many serious issues to turn into a visual exercise at the end. It's a set piece when a dramatic scene is needed. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Since the hit-man career is probably one of the most familiar non-law enforcement careers in films, it should come as no surprise that Little Odessa has nothing new to say about it. Read full review
50
Washington PostRita Kempley
Everyone is convincingly miserable, and audiences are likely to follow suit. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Roth, a great actor, is reduced to a walking sneer, and the picture creeps along in a series of handsome but painfully languorous hazy-shade-of-winter tableaux. Read full review
40
EmpireClark Collis
It's hard to care about the characters in this defiantly downbeat drama. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
Gray is more interested in hobnobbing with thespian greats than he is in making a good movie. Read full review
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