The Passenger (re-release)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) | Release Date: October 28, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
90
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Chicago ReaderDon Drucker
A masterpiece, one of Michelangelo Antonioni's finest works. (Review of Original Release) Read full review
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not credited)
Visually stunning adventure. (Review of Original Release) Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The film's final seven-minute shot is one of the great denouements in film history. Read full review
100
Film ThreatPhil Hall
Whereas "Cuckoo’s Nest" is a brilliantly over-the-top accomplishment, The Passenger is more brilliant with the most effortless underplaying one can ever hope to witness on screen. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Still packs a wallop. It's also a movie with no easy passage to its dark heart. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy Burr
What's most shocking about The Passenger 30 years later? Seeing Jack Nicholson at the lean, sardonic height of his youthful powers? Finding a Michelangelo Antonioni movie with an actual plot? Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleG. Allen Johnson
A rare chance to see a major cinematic work on the big screen. Read full review
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Antonioni's moviemaking panache and distinctive narrative rhythm rarely have seemed so enticing and satisfying. Read full review
100
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A visually dazzling mood piece. Read full review
91
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The Passenger isn't finally the masterpiece some have made it out to be, but it retains a singular intrigue: It's the first, and probably the last, thriller ever made about depression. Read full review
90
The New York TimesVincent Canby
No other performer (Jack Nicholson) in an Antonioni film, except Jeanne Moreau in "La Notte," has so gracefully submitted to Mr. Antonioni and survived intact. (Review of Original Release) Read full review
90
VarietyStaff (Not credited)
Nicholson plays the character with personal flair, as penetrating as Antonioni's handling of the film. (Review of Original Release) Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Intended as a thriller of sorts, although Antonioni is, as always, too deeply involved in the angst of his characters to bother much with the story. (Review of Original Release) Read full review
88
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The script, co-written by Antonioni and Peter Wollen, focuses on a TV journalist (a superb Jack Nicholson). Read full review
83
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's refreshing that something once considered terribly new and modern can still feel contemporary three decades later. Read full review
80
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
The Passenger is a relic of that moment in international co-production when famous European auteurs hitched their wagons to hip and eager Hollywood stars. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
In casting Jack Nicholson as the jaded Anglo-American journalist who abandons his previous life during a trip to Africa and adopts a dangerous new identity, Antonioni was working with a more powerful and charismatic actor than he has before or since. The result is something like a glamorous thriller or a disaster film in slow motion. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
A fascinating reflection of the era when it was made; but a starker indictment still of what film culture has become. In 1975, The Passenger was a night at the movies. Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
A bleak and moving drama with reflective performance from Jack Nicolson. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
It reminds one of "The Constant Gardener," another globetrotting thriller bereft of thrills that looks more important in retrospect than on the screen. Certainly, one man's trash is another man's masterpiece, and more power to the viewer who can stick with this deadpan travelogue and make it to the ending that actually satisfies. Read full review
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