The Big Carnival
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: September 4, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
72
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
2
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not credited)
A searing example of writer-director Billy Wilder at his most brilliantly misanthropic. An uncompromising portrait of human nature at its worst, the film was so far ahead of its time in its depiction of a media circus and the public's appetite for tragedy that it was a commercial disaster when first released, but now stands as one of the great American films of the 1950s. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
It's dark, funny, ferocious, and vintage Wilder all the way. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Ace in the Hole is an acquired taste -- and an unforgettable one. Read full review
80
VarietyStaff (Not credited)
Billy Wilder's direction captures the feel of morbid expectancy that always comes out in the curious that flock to scenes of tragedy. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Ace in the Hole is a movie about the fascination of disaster that is itself a fascinating disaster. Read full review
40
Film ThreatPhil Hall
So ham-handed and relentlessly overbaked that it is easy to see why audiences initially stayed away from it. Just when and how did anyone come to see this as a classic? Read full review
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