The Details
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: November 2, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
3
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 9, 2012
The Details has a light tone, but it's anything but light in purpose. It's committed and passionate, one of the most perceptive and morally persuasive movies of 2012. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumNov 1, 2012
Tobey Maguire's characteristic placidity makes a fine mask for a man who is thoroughly awful. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinNov 2, 2012
It all adds up to create a dicey morality tale that's as improbable as it is strangely believable. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen HoldenNov 1, 2012
Instead of turning soft and squishy, this examination of karma gets tougher as it goes along. Its refusal to settle into a cozy niche may be commercially disastrous, but I take it as a sign of integrity. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlNov 1, 2012
Top-shelf cast, headed by Tobey Maguire, slips into familiar grooves of adultery, lies, blackmail, and pet poisoning, it's the spectacular blow-ups and dressing-downs that make this such a nervy pleasure. Read full review
65
NPRJoel ArnoldNov 1, 2012
In The Details' finest moments, writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes exerts a precise control over tone using sound and performance; in its worst moments, the score and actors overcompensate for weak material. Those elements let Estes get away with often-indulgent writing, throwing up whole scenes that don't add texture or conflict. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyNov 1, 2012
Manages to be both compelling and unsatisfying. But what limits it isn't lack of execution. The movie is many things, but a mess isn't one of them. Estes knows exactly what he wants. Whether it's worth wanting is another matter. Read full review
58
The PlaylistCory EverettOct 30, 2012
Described as an "existential horror film," The Details can't quite reach the same level of excellence as The Coen Brothers' recent "A Serious Man," another film about a man being punished (or rewarded) by fate based on his actions. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasOct 31, 2012
The lone standout is Linney's performance as the deranged neighbor, whose erratic combination of sexual desperation and extreme vulnerability keeps the film on life support. Read full review
40
Time OutMatt SingerOct 31, 2012
If only writer-director Jacob Aaron Estes had bothered to dig a little bit deeper than those damn raccoons did. Read full review
33
IndieWireEric KohnOct 30, 2012
It's a familiar mold: the perils of suburban discontent have been so thoroughly explored that The Details plays like a hodgepodge of familiar circumstances on an assembly line to disaster. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle SmithNov 1, 2012
Cancels itself out by being too campy to take seriously and too tragic to laugh at. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerOct 28, 2012
The Details is as smug and self-satisfied as its privileged lead character. Read full review
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