The Dancer Upstairs
Fox Searchlight Pictures | Release Date: May 2, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
28
Mixed:
12
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Though he never quite rescues the film, Bardem continually suggests the tensions bubbling under the surface that Dancer itself never penetrates. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It's in English, but the actors speak it with tortuous accents that are a constant struggle to understand and make them seem like foreigners in their own land. Spanish with English subtitles would have served this story much, much better. Read full review
50
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
The movie fails at the primary steps of turning Rejas' mind inside out and dramatizing the contradictions in his heart and soul. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Casting a film set in Latin America with Spanish-and Italian-speaking performers acting in English misfires; the actors' diverse accents clash, some are clearly more fluent than others and the sense of relief when anyone speaks a rare line in Spanish is palpable. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Has many of the qualities that made the actor such a great target for self-parody in Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich" - it's sober, deliberate, self-consciously mysterious and no fun at all. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The only reason this dilemma has any import is thanks to Bardem, who almost single-handedly drags the film along. Read full review
50
Film ThreatAnthony Miele
Humorous yet subtle characters aid Malkovich in creating a film that is engaging and entertaining, while at the same time lumbering during long stretches. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
While you can't fault The Dancer Upstairs for lack of ambition, its tantalizing ingredients add up to a less impressive package than I'd hoped for. Malkovich should select a more manageable subject the next time he sits in the director's chair. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
An ambitious political thriller, a multilingual film of mood and texture and the occasional haunting image. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
A murky, turgid work that is no doubt exactly the film Malkovich wished to make but is so indirect and affected as to border on incoherent. Read full review
40
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
Malkovich has done considerable directing in the theater, but nothing in the acting here shows acuteness of choice or subtlety of touch. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Falters in small but important ways -– the suspense, carefully ratcheted up throughout, just plain goes busto in the film’s final moments -– while Malkovich stays resolutely behind the camera, a consummate professional who, this time, misses his mark by the merest of degrees. Read full review
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