Once Upon a Crime...

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: March 6, 1992

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

35	METASCORE Generally unfavorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews

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Mixed:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

Michael Wilmington

Though it doesn't really work, there are enjoyable things about it. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

This frothy little comedy is a pleasant enough amusement. It's not a big belly-laugh of a comedy, but it's quickly paced, fun and entertaining. Read full review

Joe Pollack

Once Upon a Crime could have been a boisterous slapstick comedy, but writing and direction reduce it to the status of the very ordinary. [12 March 1992, p.3E]

H.J. Kirchhoff

The plot is a mishmash of murder, cute pets, lost luggage, compulsive gambling and domestic disharmony, and has holes in it you could pilot a yacht through. [10 March 1992]

Janet Maslin

The cast of Once Upon a Crime performs energetically, as if the material was funny, although most of the time it is not. As a general rule, films whose plots revolve around lost dogs are apt to be short on comic inspiration, and this one is no exception. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

SCTV alum Eugene Levy makes his feature-film directing debut with a film that, ironically, would have provided ample fodder for a Second City spoof as a group of US stars chews its way through Italy and France in search of a movie. Read full review

Jackie Potts

Take away Once Upon a Crime's star-studded cast and sunny Monte Carlo vistas and what you have left is a dachshund in a green plaid vest. An apt image: The movie is a real dog. [12 March 1992, p.F5]

Ernest Tucker

Once Upon a Crime is not grand larceny, but not good enough to qualify for much more than rental viewing. [10 March 1992, p.27]

Hal Hinson

For about 15 seconds at the beginning, the new MGM film Once Upon a Crime is a thorough delight. Then that adorable little lion stops roaring. Read full review

TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)

Levy can't seem to tell if something is funny or not and keeps up the sledgehammer intensity throughout every scene, comic subtlety and timing abandoned in a desperate attempt for laughs--even pained ones. Read full review

Mick LaSalle

Few pictures that start this well go so bad so fast. [7 March 1992, p.C3]

Susan Wloszczyna

Eugene Levy should be stopped before he directs again. [9 March 1992, p.4D]