On the Run
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: January 30, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The sheer stark speed and measured violence of On the Run catch us up quickly--and the film becomes a searing portrait of a killer-idealist lost out of time. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Genre-hoppers like Steven Soderbergh ought to love this neat triple doozy. [Note: From a review of the entire trilogy.] Read full review
80
The New YorkerAnthony Lane
What we glean from Belvaux's trilogy is the reassurance (rare on film, with its terror of inattention) that people are both important and unimportant, and that heroes and leading ladies, in life as in art, can fade into extras before our eyes. [Note: From a review of the entire trilogy.] [2 February 2004, p.94]
80
VarietyDavid Stratton
Fluid camerawork, a resonant music score and tightly wound editing combine to produce a superior suspense film with a conclusion that is somewhat reminiscent of the final acts of Robert Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" and of Joseph Losey's "The Criminal." Read full review
80
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
A taut, diamond-cut piece of storytelling. Read full review
80
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
At its most contemplative, The Trilogy is a stirring and shrewd portrait of lives lived in oblivious parallel. [Note: From a review of the entire trilogy.] Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Reveals its secrets slowly and with coy deliberation. The storytelling has the quality of a striptease, so that by the end of the film, Le Roux looks radically different from how he appears at the start. Read full review
80
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Though technically sleek and assured, On the Run offers much more than the exercise in style that weakens so much contemporary neo-noir. The movie is an unflinchingly intelligent probe into far-left monomania and the brutish power of ideology divorced from ordinary empathy. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Behind the camera Belvaux builds suspense with an austere tone and clever false alarms; in front of it he plays Bruno as chivalrous yet ruthless. Read full review
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The most cinematic of the three films. It tells its story in stark, often wordless scenes. Read full review
75
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Though On the Run is a welcome reminder that effective thrillers don't have to be noisy or dumb, the film does contain slightly jarring moments of inadvertent humor. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Belvaux tells this seamy story with great energy, and gives an all-stops-out performance in the leading role. Also fine are Catherine Frot as Bruno's former girlfriend and Dominique Blanc as the addict. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Belvaux says his tryptich...are stand-alone movies that can be enjoyed in any order. I disagree. None is a complete experience and "An Amazing Couple" can be easily skipped. But the first and third add up to something very poignant and satisfying. Read full review
75
PremiereAaron Hillis
What On the Run has going for it: solid acting, taut editing, smartly economical dialogue, an elevatingly reverberant score, and a rousing vitality that left me salivating for The Trilogy in full. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
A grim neo-noir thriller. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Has some moments of excitement and is certainly uncompromising. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
There are some scenes that display impressive technical cunning, and others that show an astute regard for the emotional capacities of his able cast, but On the Run amounts to a sullen display of skill in a dubious cause. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
This payback-revenge storyline, told mostly at night with minimal dialogue, is tense but familiar, and Bruno's quick-draw costume changes are fun to watch. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
The least appealing of the trilogy. Read full review
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