Zhou Yu de huo che
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: July 16, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
49
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
13
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
It's a terrific film because each of the characters is so fiercely felt. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Breathtakingly filmed (lots of slow-motion) by Wang Yu, but then it would be difficult to go wrong when your star is one of the world's most beautiful women. Read full review
75
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Full of mystery, romance and ambiguity, Zhou Yu's Train is a tight mosaic of a film. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleCarla Meyer
An intriguing brain-teaser. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
If Zhou Yu’s Train is finally no more than whimsy, it’s classy, delicate whimsy, a testament to the way romantic love, however unsatisfied, continues to drive itself. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Seems at once overwhelmingly romantic and elliptical, yet all the while it has been building to a conclusion that is surprisingly affecting in the jolt of recognition it elicits. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Lyrical, dreamy and too complicated for its own good. Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
Chinese thesp Gong Li goes for a striking career makeover in Zhou Yu's Train, a sensual, slickly packaged slice of Euro-style metaphysical cinema centered on a free-thinking woman and the two men in her life. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The movie follows convoluted narrative tracks. By the end of the drowsy journey, the characters are indistinguishable from the scenery. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
An empty lake, drained of any tangible substance and refilled with wispy, pseudo-poetic metaphor. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Like some of Joan Crawford's and Bette Davis's studio vehicles, this soapy romance exists only for what Gong Li can bring to it: a certain amount of soul and nuance. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Tells a pointlessly convoluted version of a love story that would really be very simple, if anyone in the movie possessed common sense. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
These are not the marks of true cinema; they're the makings of a droopy karaoke video. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldMarta Barber
Beautiful to look at but aimless as a broken compass. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Sadly, the combination of gauzy photography and cheesy music gives the film the aura of a fragrance commercial. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Before dismissing Zhou Yu's Train as the over-conceived, over-edited, under-written perfume ad that it is, the following must be said: It's great to see Gong Li onscreen again. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
It's an unusual idea but fails -- Sun spends so much time on the mood and atmosphere that he forgets about the story. Read full review
40
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Comes to seem less a movie than a memory of movies -- or, at worst, a commercial Frankenstein's monster, sewn together to fill a perceived gap in the market. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
While the film's erotic symbolism is surprisingly obvious -- all those trains and tunnels! -- it's otherwise bafflingly vague. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
It just may be a movie that has difficulty transcending national borders. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
A ticket to this movie is a season's pass on that train - and you must complete every ride. Read full review
30
Village VoiceDavid Blaylock
Devolves from opaque mystery into boring melodramatics and incoherent contrivances. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Less a tale of mysterious, tragic love than a three-way Harlequin romance. Read full review
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