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CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION | ||
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Positive:
4
Mixed:
10
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews
Aug 29, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Many of his tricks here are explained, and the means of execution may only increase your appreciation for his genius. Less convincing is the miniseries’ speculation that the British intelligence agency MI-5 recruited him to act as a spy in the run-up to World War I.
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Aug 26, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Houdini takes a big bite, and its journey is often fun and fantastical, but its goofy sensibilities would have benefited from a sturdier structure, and what it wants its audience to take away from its subject’s life story is unclear. That said, the miniseries nails the most important thing: spectacle.
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Sep 2, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Adrien Brody is impressive as Houdini in the History Channel's two-night biography, and many of his stunts are re-created (and explained) in fascinating detail. But the miniseries, a co-production with Hungary, Houdini's home country, is too slow and too-often hokey to rate a rave.
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Aug 28, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Showing how [Houdini] got the bug, learned his craft and went from sideshow oddity to world-wide celebrity, the film holds interest and makes you want to know more. Then, it pulls back the curtain and shows the locks, keys and stunts he uses to open all those seemingly inescapable devices. It’s a bit like knowing a gift before you unwrap it.
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Uncle BarkyAug 28, 2014
RogerEbert.comAug 28, 2014
Season 1 Review:
Houdini is so dense with awful dialogue--the kind in which every character says what they’re thinking and feeling in remarkably self-aware terms whenever they’re given the opportunity--that it buries the elements that actually work here, including a playful performance from Adrien Brody and the occasional sense of spectacle.
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