Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 112
Fresh: 71 | Rotten: 41
Javier Bardem is compelling in the lead role as a police detective in search of a violent, mysterious politcal radical, and as a director, John Malkovich proves adept at crafting a suspenseful mood.
Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 35
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 9
Javier Bardem is compelling in the lead role as a police detective in search of a violent, mysterious politcal radical, and as a director, John Malkovich proves adept at crafting a suspenseful mood.
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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 4,578
Actor John Malkovich made his directorial debut with this tense political thriller, set in an unnamed Latin American nation and based on a novel by Nicholas Shakespeare. Agustin Rejas (Javier Bardem) is a former lawyer who became a police detective as a more direct way of dealing with crime and justice. Rejas has been assigned to investigate a group of terrorists who are determined to up-end the current government through any means necessary, from revolting pranks (such as leaving dead animals,
R, 2 hr. 13 min.
Sep 20, 2002 Wide
Sep 23, 2003
$2.3M
Fox Searchlight Pictures
All Critics (128) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (73) | Rotten (43) | DVD (18)
The Dancer Upstairs is, like its director, sleek, mysterious and intelligent. But until its last-half hour or so, it is also, unfortunately, mind-numbing.
While The Dancer Upstairs may have nothing else to remind us of [Malkovich], it does have a certain mystique itself.
It is not revolutionary, but it brims with promise and a love of film, and is a fine if worried dance indeed.
Moving, melancholy, and, yes, political.
Reflects its director, being intelligent and elegantly turned-out but distant.
Bardem's performance lingers in ways that give the movie resonance.
Though flawed and listless as a political drama or thriller, Malkovich's feature debut deserves credit for itis ambition and for tackling an overtly political theme (guerrilla wars in Peru), a rare sight in today's indie milieu.
Em sua estréia na direção, Malkovich conduz a história com segurança e sem exibicionismo, enquanto Bardem oferece mais uma grande atuação.
'Shakespeare retooled his novel for the screen adaptation ... It is Malkovich who reinjects the mystery, along with a little magic.'
Malkovich's take on a world of corruption, intrigue and terrorism is elegantly mysterious, but...leaps in plot and missteps in character trip up The Dancer Upstairs.
Engaging.
A bit like an adolescent - desperate to be taken seriously, yet still self-consciously goofy and immature.
...for all its felicitous touches, its details, its atmosphere, and its fine acting, the resultant whole is a near miss.
A hugely promising directorial debut by John Malkovich, this is a stunning political thriller. Javier Bardem is perfect as an ambitious police captain, saddled with a materialistic wife, who finds himself falling for his daughter's dancing teacher while hunting for a revolutionary leader in an unnamed Latin American
October 17, 2007Super Reviewer
A very solid directorial effort from Malkovich, with flaws and everything. Bardem is spot on in the main role.
September 26, 2007
Super Reviewer
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