Papillon
Allied Artists Pictures | Release Date: December 16, 1973 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesVincent Canby
A big, brave, stouthearted, sometimes romantic, sometimes silly melodrama with the kind of visual sweep you don't often find in movies anymore. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
Papillon was produced with consummate technical skill and offers brilliant acting by McQueen and Hoffman. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAndrew Sarris
Shaffner has really made an exhilarating movie out of the most dangerously depressing material. [10 Jan 1974, p.56]
60
EmpireIan Nathan
One of the greatest behind-bars movies ever, the result finds director Franklin J. Schaffner making the most of both his sun-drenched locations and his leading man, who squintily acts even co-star Dustin Hoffman well off the screen. Read full review
60
TimeRichard Schickel
Audiences whose expectations do not exceed their grasp will find it a much more comfortable vehicle for escape than any that McQueen & Co. discover on location. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderDon Druker
No sense of complicity between filmmaker and spectator, no depth, no ambiguity, no production value spared, plenty of running time and pomposity, and a desperate sense of trying to do everything and please everybody. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
An expensive, exhaustive, 150-mintue odyssey that doesn’t so much conclude as cross the finish line and collapse. It has been outfitted with expensive stars and a glossy production, but it doesn’t really make us care. Read full review
50
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
For 150 uninterrupted minutes, the mood is one of despair, brutality, and little hope. The script is very good within its limitations, but there is insufficient identification with the main characters. Read full review
50
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
With Schaffner unable to find the necessary perspective to prevent the film from becoming unevenly episodic, it ends up looking as if it were tacked together by at least three different directors. Read full review
50
The New YorkerPauline Kael
A methodical, pointlessly grueling movie.
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