Secuestro express
Miramax Films | Release Date: August 5, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The New York TimesLaura Kern
The constant threat of violence and rape is difficult to endure, but the unpredictable Secuestro Express is more than just a dizzying thrill ride laced with small doses of pitch-black comic relief. Read full review
80
The Hollywood ReporterSura Wood
Jakubowicz's direction is assured except in the film's final moments, when he makes a clumsy attempt at sociopolitical philosophy that is delivered by an omniscient narrator. It's an indulgence that threatens to undercut the ferocity that precedes it. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
There's nary a dull moment in the semi-autobiographical Secuestro Express (secuestro means kidnap), as Jakubowicz pleases the eyes with closeups, sped-up scenes, hand-held camerawork and other stylized tricks. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This is pulp with smarts and a social conscience. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
Zips along at an urgent pace, both tantalizing and repulsing as it goes. Read full review
60
VarietyRobert Koehler
Assuming the victims' point of view in the type of kidnapping that's now epidemic in Latin America, Jonathan Jakubowicz's Kidnap Express depicts a nocturnal Caracas with tense energy. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Jakubowicz has aptly said of his film that "the beauty of Secuestro Express is how localized it is. The more local it becomes, the more universal it becomes." The truth of his remark resonates throughout this fast and furious film. Read full review
60
EmpireAnna Smith
Illuminating as to the reality of being a victim of crime in a dangerous society but not exactly absorbing entertainment. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Exploits the epidemic of kidnapping in Venezuela without offering solutions or insight--only sophomoric platitudes. Jakubowicz's talents as a filmmaker are many, but crafting an articulate, well-examined social theory isn't among them. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Slick, violent thriller that could seriously dampen tourism to Venezuela. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Jakubowicz successfully portrays a country corrupted beyond repair by financial inequality. But the sadism that drives the story is so gleefully nasty, it overshadows any rational arguments he's trying to make. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
There's no denying the movie's visceral impact: It's too bad, though, that Jakubowicz isn't aiming for anything other than sensation. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
It's a skillfully made film, but not especially fun to watch, and the apparent thesis that poverty justifies such acts doesn't quite wash. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNona Willis-Aronowitz
A focus on a timely social problem paired with an archetypal class-war tale would be a winning combination for Secuestro Express, were it not for the movie's strangely exploitative nature. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyScott Foundas
Too often, though, Jakubowicz falls back on his relentlessly pirouetting DV camera, attention-deficient editing and ear-splitting sound effects as a substitute for real tension, or a more piercing inquiry into the bubbling tension between South America's haves and its poverty-stricken have-nots. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Has more in common with a horror movie than with a genuine political work. Read full review
10
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Writer-director Jonathan Jakubowicz does his best Quentin Tarantino impersonation, loading the film with percussively profane dialogue, smug adolescent nihilism, rampant drug use, pop-culture references, homophobic invective, and empty stylistic excess. Read full review
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