Malkovich is more interested in hitting notes of elegiac lyricism than delivering socko action; this is a thriller that means to get under your skin rather than make you leap from your seat.
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05/06/03
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The Dancer Upstairs (2003)
63
%
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Reviews Counted:112
Fresh:71
Rotten:41
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Bardem is compelling in the lead role, and Malkovich proves adept at crafting mood.
Theatrical Release:May 2, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $2,282,798
Synopsis: The directorial debut of John Malkovich, THE DANCER UPSTAIRS is a riveting political drama set in an undetermined Latin American city. A revolution has started, and the local police have been... [More]
Starring: Javier Bardem, Laura Morante, Oliver Cotton, Luis Miguel Cintra
Director: John Malkovich
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Reviews for The Dancer Upstairs
it works as a character study [but] the love story seems to spring out of nowhere
05/06/03
... a terrific film.
05/05/03
Top CriticBardem, the star of The Dancer Upstairs, is that rare modern performer who personifies heroism.
05/04/03
Top CriticAs a man struggling to carve a moral path through thickets of corruption and violence, the Spanish actor Javier Bardem holds the centre of John Malkovich's directorial-debut like a magnetic core.
05/02/03
Top CriticBardem puts in a performance that is the whole movie.
05/02/03
After an initially engrossing start, it stumbles through a series of implausible coincidences and murky events, barely held together by the magnetic performance of Javier Bardem.
05/02/03
Top CriticIt moves with a compelling intensity toward its conclusion.
05/02/03
Top CriticOne thing is for sure, Malkovich is going to be a director that actors will be clamoring to work with.
05/02/03
Though Malkovich does a nice job in establishing the look and feel of this country, his lack of restraint in trimming the story's excesses is what ultimately turns the film into an overlong bore.
05/02/03
A haunting and often beautiful work, part doomed romance and part political thriller, that demonstrates the adult command of the medium Malkovich has always demonstrated as an actor.
05/02/03
Top CriticMuch like the film's quizzical romance, its mystery aspects often lead to head-scratching.
05/02/03
It's sober, deliberate, self-consciously mysterious and no fun at all.
05/02/03
Top CriticAlthough Malkovich has a good eye for composition and a deft way with rat-a-tat dialogue, Dancer sags in a few too many places.
05/02/03
Squanders the intensity of its strongest moments by running away from its own political implications, not to mention by being in the wrong damn language.
05/02/03
The Dancer Upstairs finds just the right balance between private drama and the political world--and may open some eyes to the value of independent thought.
05/02/03
Viva Javier Bardem!
05/02/03
Subtlety well-crafted and beautifully shot.
05/01/03
A good film, but with another run through the editing room, it could have been great.
05/01/03
Sheer wooliness undermines the sober political stance of John Malkovich's overexcited directorial debut.
05/01/03
Top CriticLatest News for The Dancer Upstairs
February 17, 2006:
Newell & Bardem Come Down with "Cholera"
International acting stud Javier Bardem and well-rounded movie director Mike Newell are about to bring the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Love in the Time of Cholera" to the... More...
May 06, 2003:
. . . this is a thriller that means to get under your skin rather than make you leap from your seat. 
More...
September 25, 2002:
From the Oscar nominated dramatic powerhouses, John Malkovich and Javier Bardem, comes an English language drama exploring real life terrorism in 1980s Latin America. As the opening film at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, 'The Dancer Upstairs' is hoping
More...
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