The King Is Alive
IFC Releasing | Release Date: May 11, 2001 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
9
Negative:
3

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Janet McTeer displays Amazonian power while Jennifer Jason Leigh tears into her role as a high maintenance creature with a ferocity that leaves little room for her usual acting tics. Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The cast, working in conditions that appear to have been only slightly less dire than those portrayed in the film, work together in a grim, convincing improvisatory rhythm. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneRobert K. Elder
Stands as a successful cinematic experiment and a gripping -- though a little too long -- study of humanity's most primitive instincts.
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
It's an excellent fusion of subject and style.
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It doesn't make the slightest effort to cater to conventional appetites. But the more you appreciate what they're trying to do, the more you like it. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Distinguished less by its elements of melodrama and psychodrama than by its intense acting and the vivid immediacy of Levring's powerful imagery. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
To some, this will seem the height of aesthetic experimentation; to others, the most unendurable arty hogwash. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
Isn't very pretty despite its extraordinary look. In fact, the film is downright queasy and unsettling. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Forget the bug-eating, cow-spearing and one-upsmanship of TV's "Survivor." The real results of isolation and deprivation unfold in The King is Alive: madness, suicide and murder.
75
Philadelphia InquirerDesmond Ryan
Fascinating and strangely involving piece.
70
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Simultaneously gritty and cerebral. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeJay Carr
Sinks under the weight of its ever more inescapably apparent contrivance, and its forced parallels to ''Lear.''
63
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
Intrigues mainly for its spare style and brittle, sweat-soaked performances.
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
wWhat doesn't entirely succeed as convincing psychodrama makes one hell of an acting exercise (it's great fun to see great actors purposely mangle the Bard's immortal words), and Levring's cast -- McTeer in particular -- run with it. Read full review
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
Tendency to pretentiousness. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Stylish and gritty, The King Is Alive lacks the impact of revelation that might have made the journey worth taking. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
A deeper problem in The King Is Alive is an almost total absence of spontaneity.
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
Either you like your movies to be, well, movie-like: imitations of life, with musical accompaniment and artificial lighting and tracking shots and looped dialogue; or you like them to be re-creations of life, sans the artifice. The King Is Alive clearly falls into the latter camp. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderTed Shen
Most of the confrontations are shot in close-up, dragging us into the melee as the grungy-looking actors spit out their venomous dialogue. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
The tedium of the situation is felt by the audience, but too often in the wrong way: We don't empathize so much as suffer through the movie. Read full review
40
New Times (L.A.)Luke Y. Thompson
The prettiest Dogme film to date may be the one that has the least to say.
40
Mr. ShowbizKevin Maynard
The most obvious casualty ends up being Jennifer Jason Leigh, an actress known for her fearless choices, who is literally pissed on for her trouble.
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Becomes a strung-together collection of interesting, semi-interesting, boring and sometimes embarrassing (seemingly improvised) moments from the cast. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleWesley Morris
Builds into a shapeless riff on the existentialist misery of company. Read full review
20
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Endearingly pretentious -- as if it swallowed a thick brick of Beckett and can't pass the uncooperative Beckettian stool. Read full review
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