The Landlord
United Artists | Release Date: May 20, 1970 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
75
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 12 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
The film captures a moment, playfully but without losing sight of the stakes, when the hot political temperatures of the late ’60s and early ’70s made change of one kind or another look inevitable. Read full review
90
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
One of the funniest social comedies of its period. Read full review
88
Slant MagazineSteven Boone
With so many brilliant collaborators and points of view, whose movie—whose dream—is it anyway? Ashby seems to say it’s all of ours. Read full review
80
The GuardianJohn Patterson
A still wonderfully penetrating, wise and exact meditation on race relations at the end of the 1960s. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim Robey
It holds up as terrifically fresh and constantly enjoyable, thanks to the collision of two social milieus that American cinema rarely puts side by side. Read full review
80
Time OutTom Huddleston
The Landlord succeeds thanks to terrific performances, political nous, flawless photography from Gordon Willis, a handful of sublimely witty moments and an overall sense of rebellious fun. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Instead of staying on that safe, predictable level, it begins to dig into the awkwardness and hypocrisy of our commonly shared, attitudes about race. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The film offers some fine performances, and Ashby's quirky but skillful direction allows the individual personalities of the characters to shine through. The script has a few uneven moments, none of which damage the overall quality of the film, and Willis captures the atmosphere of both rich and poor New York lifestyles with an impressive visual style. Read full review
70
VarietyStaff (Not Credited)
Beau Bridges heads the uniformly excellent cast as a bored rich youth who buys a black ghetto apartment building and learns something about life. Read full review
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
The dialogue is crisp and often quite startling, and though the editing may be a little too showy and jumpy, the picture has originality and depth, and it’s full of sharp, absurdist humor. Read full review
63
Chicago ReaderDave Kehr
This 1970 feature was the directorial debut of Hal Ashby (Harold and Maude, Shampoo, Coming Home, Being There), and for a first effort it isn't that bad. Read full review
50
TimeStaff (Not Credited)
The Landlord is a glossy, flat, fake Hollywood attempt at black social comedy. Read full review
More From This Movie

75 Critic Reviews

tbd User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL