Twentynine Palms
Wellspring Media | Release Date: April 9, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
43
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
7

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York PostV.A. Musetto
At turns sexy, ultra-violent and sweet, it will infiltrate your brain long after you've seen it. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Dumont's methods are radical, but there's a fascinating method to his seeming cinematic madness. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Even adventurous moviegoers who are familiar with Bruno Dumont's previous features...may be taken aback by the intensity of this shocker. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
For most of the way, the film is perceptive about the hot-and-cold volatility of wounded relationships, when couples are struggling to communicate yet familiar enough to exploit each other's weaknesses. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Slams us with an absurdly repugnant ending, for absolutely no reason other than to shock viewers and generate cheap controversy. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The sustained force of Mr. Dumont's vision of existence as a swirl of brute instincts may not be easy to absorb, but it marks him as a major filmmaker. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This is one of those films in which the Act of Driving becomes a 10-minute statement of high emptiness; Dumont even manages to make sex in the desert boring. Read full review
50
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The latest minimalist provocation from the infuriating but talented French director Bruno Dumont. [12 April 2004, p. 89]
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's alternately monotonous, hot and dramatic, which makes for a peculiar, not entirely unsatisfying atmosphere of neo -- or is that post? -- noir. What it all means, of course, I have no idea. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A textbook example of how a director can strip away plot, motivation, character, and meaning and still leave arrant pretension standing tall. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Ultimately a hollow and pointless exercise. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Embedded between all the sex and sunlight are some woefully underdeveloped ideas about American militarism and masculinity. Dumont doesn't bother to develop these ideas, principally because he seems to think it's enough to arrange his characters like puppets and tear off their heads. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Muddled, to put it kindly. Read full review
20
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Alas, the plot eventually takes over, and it's exceptionally ugly and unpleasant. Read full review
10
Village VoiceDennis Lim
The "Humanite" director's Death Valley void is the real "Lost in Translation." Read full review
10
VarietyLisa Nesselson
Fails to captivate or intrigue at the most basic level. Read full review
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