The Two Faces of January
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: September 26, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews
Positive:
20
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Arizona RepublicRandy CordovaOct 16, 2014
The movie is not uninteresting, but a viewer isn't breathlessly waiting to see how things will wrap up, either. By the third act, you even start to get impatient with the characters. That's not exactly a ringing endorsement. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaOct 10, 2014
This is Highsmith, and so things do not go as planned for her protagonists. The Two Faces of January - drop-dead gorgeous to behold - is not a merry tale, but a murderous one. Murderously good. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrOct 9, 2014
This is an unusual role for Mortensen, but after you’ve played a thinking woman’s hunk so long and so well, what else is there? Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 9, 2014
That Hossein Amini, in his first outing as a director, kept all three of these well-known actors in perfect balance suggests a filmmaker who knows how to steer a performance. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianJeff BakerOct 3, 2014
A pleasant entertainment, the term Graham Greene used for his thrillers, but slips away from memory as quickly as a summer evening. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneSep 29, 2014
You should see it just for Chester — the adventurous sham, running ever deeper into a maze of his own devising. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanSep 27, 2014
If you wait for the grift, you’ll only be disappointed. There are no jolting twists or shocking reveals. The reward lies mostly in accepting each character on his or her terms. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriSep 27, 2014
It’s a case of diminishing returns: gorgeous, occasionally evocative, but, in the end, mostly dull. Read full review
75
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonSep 26, 2014
It’s Mortensen and his smokes that seal the deal. Puffing away, he is dangerously sexy and morally dubious, the latter of which makes perfect sense as we are in Patricia Highsmith territory. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 25, 2014
Mortensen and Isaac, expertly exchanging the faces of loyalty and betrayal, are both outstanding. Is the film too old-school for short attention spans? Maybe. Rest assured that Amini's shuddery endgame is well worth the wait. Read full review
80
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 25, 2014
There’s a mystery here, some thrills and blood, but mostly there are beautiful people and the kind of human hunger that devours everything and everyone in sight. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeySep 25, 2014
Amini has a powerful acting triumvirate in Mortensen, Dunst and Isaac to help him deal with the capricious nature of this particular tangled web. Read full review
50
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternSep 25, 2014
All the pieces would seem to be in place for an effective film, but the direction is zestless, the pace is more often laggardly than leisurely, and the lead performances are surprisingly lifeless, although Mr. Isaac manages to make a virtue of his scammer's deliberate vagueness. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 25, 2014
A subtle, underplayed psychological drama with terrific work by all three actors. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithSep 25, 2014
A sun-splashed noir that loses its appeal in the last act. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskySep 24, 2014
January skirts by on its tastefulness and appreciation for the source material, however single-minded. It’s a movie of small pleasures: slow-burn suspense; period flavor, with an emphasis on the textures, clothes, and luggage; an effective score by Pedro Almodovar’s regular composer, Alberto Iglesias. Read full review
88
ObserverRex ReedSep 24, 2014
Carefully directed and gorgeous to look at, with haunting performances and maximum suspense. Read full review
70
Village VoiceSam WeisbergSep 23, 2014
Mortensen is a pro at the slow burn, and he adds genuinely frightening layers of impulsiveness to this tempest-in-a-teapot scenario. The freshest twist is that each man has a notable advantage over the other. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineClayton DillardSep 21, 2014
Superbly acted and sporadically intriguing thriller, yet it has a difficult time locating more stringent meaning and significance beyond its outward narrative of duplicitous actions and veiled motivations. Read full review
60
The DissolveMike D'AngeloSep 8, 2014
For a first-time director, Amini demonstrates considerable skill both with actors and with the camera, giving the film a pungent balance of visual elegance and moral seediness. Read full review
60
The GuardianSteve RoseAug 26, 2014
There are many attractive parts to this thriller – handsome leads, a meaty Patricia Highsmith plot, Mediterranean sunlight on cream linen suits – but it's no greater than the sum of them. Read full review
80
Time Out LondonDave CalhounAug 26, 2014
Dunst handles her sidekick role with a mature ease that’s new to her, but it’s the men you remember: Mortensen in psychological freefall and Isaac always tough to read and hiding something behind a handsome, controlled exterior. It’s a gentle and smart blast from the past. Read full review
60
Total FilmPhilip KempAug 26, 2014
Amini’s film offers elegant pleasures and holds the interest – but it never grips as it should. Read full review
40
CineVueDaniel GreenMay 21, 2014
Amini has proven his narrative acumen before and will undoubtedly do so again, but his inaugural stint behind the camera offers only fleeting glimpses of Highsmith's seductive, satirical prose that old hands such as Clément, Hitchcock and Minghella have so notably put to good use. Read full review
80
EmpireAngie ErrigoMay 12, 2014
A superior directorial debut for a smart, literate screenwriter delivers both first-class character drama and edge-of-your-seat suspense. Read full review
67
IndieWireTara KarajicaFeb 18, 2014
Amini's directorial debut is a quiet and graceful achievement that suffers from a number of shortcomings but still works on its own terms.

 Read full review
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeFeb 14, 2014
Best known as the screenwriter of such subtext-rich adaptations as “The Wings of the Dove” and “Drive,” Amini excels at conveying the subtle, unspoken tensions between characters, selecting a tightrope-risky example with which to make his directorial debut and orchestrating it with aplomb. Read full review
80
The TelegraphTim RobeyFeb 11, 2014
It’s an elegantly pleasurable period thriller, a film of tidy precision and class. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungFeb 11, 2014
On his first trip behind the camera, the British-Iranian Amini shows his skill at working with actors and sensing the way they can fill out literary characters. His screenplay generally feels more naturalistic than Highsmith, the dialogue less spare. Read full review
58
The PlaylistJessica KiangFeb 10, 2014
It's a sterile affair, no ambiguity, no ambivalence, just people doing one thing and then another. Read full review
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