The Samaritan
IFC Films | Release Date: May 18, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
8
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 16, 2012
The Samaritan isn't a great noir, but it's true to the tradition and gives Samuel L. Jackson one of his best recent roles. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenMay 12, 2012
A gritty serving of pulp fiction masterfully perpetrated by Samuel L. Jackson as a philosophical ex-con trying to buck the considerable odds by taking a shot at redemption. Read full review
55
MovielineAlison WillmoreMay 17, 2012
Svelte enough in its reassembling of familiar elements to be, for a while, as comfortably pleasant as sipping on what once used to be your go-to drink - until The Samaritan takes a jarring turn right out of Park Chan-wook, and from there takes a tumble into ludicrousness from which it doesn't recover. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMay 17, 2012
About a third of the way along, there's a shocking revelation that definitely packs a punch. Problem is, it's followed by a near-immediate return to familiar narrative convention, where the noir ante rises exponentially toward a climax that arrives too hastily and ends too neatly. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark OlsenMay 17, 2012
The Samaritan doesn't wind up feeling like a con, exactly, but it has just enough promise to leave viewers feeling ripped off when it comes up short. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderBen SachsMay 17, 2012
An odd stylistic mash-up, the movie never quite coheres, in part because the characters are so thin that the style doesn't have much to cohere to. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert KoehlerMay 12, 2012
If anything, this Canadian production misses a great opportunity to dig into its setting and examine the dark side of seemingly pristine Toronto, even as the script by Elan Mastai and director David Weaver labors over a mostly boilerplate storyline. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsMay 16, 2012
It's difficult to describe The Samaritan, in which Samuel L. Jackson plays an ex-con trying to return to the straight and narrow after 25 years inside, without overlapping a dozen other movies in his nigh-endless filmography, nor watch any scene without thinking of how many times he's drawn from the same bag of tricks. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisMay 18, 2012
His (Jackson) doleful revenant is in almost every scene, and this hardworking actor seems to know that the film around him should be a light-footed caper instead of a grim noir with a side order of deviance. Read full review
40
The GuardianAndrew PulverMay 12, 2012
A clotted, knotted, twisty noir that is, unfortunately, short on the required atmosphere. Read full review
30
Village VoiceNick SchagerMay 15, 2012
Weaver's story slowly begins to buckle under the weight of its own self-seriousness and familiarity, concluding with a showdown and resolution marked by one implausible and unsatisfying been-here-done-that twist after another. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineDiego SemereneMay 18, 2012
The Samaritan treads a fine line between film-noir moodiness and crime-thriller triteness, mostly settling for the latter. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanMay 17, 2012
The most charitable approach to this unfortunate diversion in Jackson's career would be to pretend it never happened. Now, who wants to go see "The Avengers" again? Read full review
20
Time OutEric HynesMay 15, 2012
No one expects a Samuel L. Jackson thriller to be Shakespeare, but David Weaver's wanna-be '70s-grindhouse cheapie doesn't even achieve serviceability. Read full review
12
New York PostKyle SmithMay 18, 2012
A would-be piece of pulp fiction about a parolee trying to go straight, The Samaritan proves that even Samuel L. Jackson can be boring. Read full review
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