The Statement
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: December 12, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
20
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Has the hallmarks of a top-notch Jewison production -- splendid performances, especially from leads Michael Caine, Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam, a pulse-quickening pace and production values that establish story and character within a distinct environment. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
There's a sensational, highly original performance by Swinton. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerHoward Shapiro
Partly because of Caine and partly because of meticulous work by veteran director Norman Jewison, The Statement is a fiction done so effectively, it rings true -- even slick lines that may otherwise be rancid. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The resulting political thriller is more intriguing than riveting, flattened by Jewison's plodding direction and distracting use of British actors to play French characters. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Never comes together as a persuasive whole. Instead of moral complexity, we get an overfamiliar pursuit tale and investigation story. Worse, the movie fails the first test of a thriller: It lacks any significant suspense. Read full review
63
PremierePeter Debruge
As a thriller, The Statement is relatively disappointing, but as a moral study, the movie proves far more promising. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
The Statement is an older man's film, and compassion is one of its strengths; Jewison and Caine make us feel pity and terror for the victims as well. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Not quite a thriller and not quite a character study, though with elements of both, the film is limited by its ambiguous relation to history. Read full review
60
EmpireOlly Richards
Positioned as a tense political thriller, Jewison's film is high on the (somewhat confusing) politics but falls a little short on the thrills. Read full review
50
VarietyScott Foundas
Lackluster pic fails both as suspense and as character study. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Peter Rainer
Seems tailor-made for an intelligent thriller in the Graham Greene mode, but in Jewison's hands, the dragnet that closes in on Brossard is lackadaisical, and the larger political overtones--especially concerning the complicity of the Catholic church in aiding Nazis--are spelled out over and over. Read full review
50
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Ends up second-guessing its own high-minded strivings, not trustful enough of its audience to be sophisticated about history and ethics, and not pulpy enough to keep us awake. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
A tolerable thriller. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Caine puts all his formidable talent into pulling this off, but Jewison's directing and Roland Harwood's screenplay (based on Brian Moore's novel) provide a regrettably shaky foundation for him to build on. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
As much as these wonderful actors invest their performances with psychological nuance, their efforts go mostly for naught in a movie that gives character development a distant back seat to the grinding mechanics of its formulaic plot. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Films can't just sound good on paper; they have to be effective on the screen, and in that form, The Statement is disappointing. Read full review
50
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Overripe dialogue and a fevered score fail to inject any real tension, and the accentless English spoken throughout a film set entirely in France is ludicrous and jarring. Read full review
50
USA TodayMike Clark
For a story that centers on intrigue in high places, the few even halfway-grabbing scenes come from the mild if unexplored sexual tension between co-Caine sleuthers Tilda Swinton and Jeremy Northam. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
In Jewison's hands, this cat-and-mouse game plays like third-rate John Le Carré, treading lethargically over high-minded intrigue that mixes fact, fiction, and unlikely speculation in dubious relation to the historical record. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Jewison dodges the issues in the script by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) to focus on cat-and-mouse chases that kill interest. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
As depicted here, the political story becomes convoluted and dramatically inert. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
I don't require that a movie have a message, but in a message movie it is helpful to know what the message is. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
The film seems more an excuse to attack a target than an exercise in solid storytelling. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Tedious "message movie" proves hunting war criminals amid right-wing Catholic conspirators can be plenty dull. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
If any actor could reveal the squirmy soul of a war criminal, it's Caine, so it feels like a cheat when The Statement gives him nothing to portray but self-condemnation. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Norman Jewison's honorable but stodgy exercise in ethical outrage, based on Brian Moore's acclaimed 1996 novel, fairly aches to be called a thinking man's thriller. Read full review
40
Film ThreatMark Sells
The film makes an honest effort to present this story as intelligent and thought provoking, but ultimately falls flat because it doesn’t provide enough reasons to care. Read full review
30
SalonCharles Taylor
A stiff, clunky piece of work that never builds up urgency or tension. The script, by playwright Ronald Harwood, who wrote the script for Roman Polanski's "The Pianist," is close to atrocious. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Brit actors can't even be bothered to speak with French accents. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Never gels into the smart, tightly orchestrated cat-and-mouse game that it promises to be. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleSteve Davis
By the time The Statement comes to its inevitable conclusion, you'll be hard pressed to remember much about it, sadly enough. In other words, The Statement doesn't make much of one. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Harwood's screenplay obscures any sort of philosophical, religious, or historical considerations in favor of pulpy and faith-bruising sensationalism. Read full review
More From This Movie

45 Critic Reviews

6.0 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