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Zen Noir (2004)

tomatometer

33

Average Rating: 3.9/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

audience

69

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 563

My Rating

Movie Info

A death has occurred in a Buddhist temple, but in order to solve the crime, the nameless detective in charge of the investigation must let go of his logic and rely on the intuitive, non-linear world of Zen in director Marc Rosenbush's abstruse comic mystery. Still in mourning from the recent loss of his wife, the detective must first question Ed; a secretive monk whose bad attitude immediately raises a red flag. When subsequent discussions with chrome domed femme fatale Jane and the

May 15, 2007

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All Critics (17) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (10)

...An irritating exercise in ham acting, metaphysical patter routines, and rim-shot-style comic editing.

December 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader
Chicago Reader
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Insufferably coy.

November 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
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Even at 71 minutes, this shoestring-budget production seems overlong and undernourished.

October 27, 2006 Full Review Source: Seattle Times
Seattle Times
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Rosenbush's cinematic experiment generates so little excitement I doubt whether you'll hear even the sound of one hand clapping.

September 29, 2006
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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A provocative, witty -- and admittedly esoteric -- experimental comedy that is serious, amusing and satisfying.

September 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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For all its shortcomings, Zen Noir still entertains.

September 15, 2006 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
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It plays like a short film extended to the length of a feature ... and assembled by someone who appears to have seen a bunch of David Lynch movies and not quite understood them.

November 9, 2006 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Like its hero, Zen Noir doesn't exist for even a second outside the vocabulary of the film world.

October 30, 2006 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle

Writer/director Marc Rosenbush's first film, from the false toughness of its surface to its soft, pulpy heart, will please neither aficionados of the detective genre nor devotees of Eastern religion.

October 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The acting is stylized, the sets are stylized, the editing is stylized, all toward a Zen-like minimalist aesthetic.

October 16, 2006 Full Review Source: culturevulture.net
culturevulture.net

Any hopes that Marc Rosenbush's film might transcend its unimaginative title are dashed almost immediately, as manic fade-outs, fade-ins and overlays of portentous symbols give way to mannered dialogue and bad jokes.

September 22, 2006 Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly
L.A. Weekly

Any one of a thousand can spoof noir. One in a thousand can spoof it well.

September 22, 2006 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine

...indulges in a lot of jumpcuts and flashy montages that quickly prove more irritating than expressive. Even at 65 minutes (plus credits), this one feels too long.

September 22, 2006

A fascinating, if somewhat pretentious little film that's not exactly the cut and dried crime drama that The Detective might have expected.

September 16, 2006 Full Review Source: Film Threat
Film Threat

Audience Reviews for Zen Noir

Wow. You won't see ANY films like this. Completely original. Funny, mysterious, slightly disturbing. HIghly recommend. And, if you know anything about Zen Buddhism, a must see. This filmmaker has created a little work of art in Zen Noir. It takes you on a ride that is constantly throwing you off balance, and whacking your synapses in weird places, but in a humorous nearly loving way. He creatively merges the worlds of Film Noir and Zen Buddhism, and they blend together perfectly. You definitely leave with more questions than you went in with. I'd tell ya more, but I don't want to be a spoiler. Actually, I think this is unspoilable. I'm still not even sure what happened.
July 4, 2009
matertenebraum

Super Reviewer

It helps to know a little bit about zen to get some of the situational jokes, and you need to appreciate film noir to get some of the acting/directorial jokes.
May 18, 2012
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