The Postman Always Rings Twice

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The Postman Always Rings Twice

R

1981

2h 3m

Crime

Drama

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

73%

Tomatometer

15 Reviews

58%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Itinerant troublemaker Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) has a meal at a roadside restaurant and meets devastating femme fatale Cora Papadakis (Jessica Lange). As it turns out, Cora is married to the restaurant's owner, Nick (John Colicos). Happy to have a visitor, Papadakis offers Chambers a job. Chambers stays on and begins to help himself to whatever he likes -- including Cora. The two dive headlong into a torrid romance and begin to plot the perfect murder.

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Noel Murray

The Dissolve

Feb 7, 2014

3.5/5

With its earthy Sven Nykvist cinematography and its emphasis on the character's rumpled clothes and weathered homes, this Postman is like something from the [Bob] Rafelson of 10 years earlier: pensive and realistic.

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Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Oct 23, 2004

2.5/4

The Postman Always Rings Twice is an absolutely superb mounting of a hollow and disappointing production.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Jun 13, 2026

2/4

The Postman Always Rings Twice‘s grip on the viewer is slowly-but-surely loosened by an episodic midsection riddled with far-from-engrossing subplots...

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Jesús Fernández Santos

El Pais (Spain)

Aug 20, 2019

The excellent cinematography and well-crafted mise-en-scène guarantee a long shelf-life to this novel. [Full Review in Spanish]

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Peter Ackroyd

The Spectator

Mar 27, 2018

Because there is no consistency of character, and therefore of meaning, the plot lurches around, to the evident bewilderment of the audience; the closing scenes are a terrible mess.

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Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality & Practice

Nov 5, 2012

4/5

A heated-up drama about sexual passion and obsession.

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Hans H

@HansHans Jul 27, 2026

Kept my attention. Love gone wrong setup great acting and Ms Lang was excellent. Enjoy.

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rex W

@RT11010153 Jul 26, 2026

"Postman..." seems longer than 2 hours. The sex scenes were uncomfortable to watch. And the 2nd half lost its structure. Nicholson and Lange were good, but not great. A better director would have made a better film.

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Henry D

@Henry_Domke Jun 23, 2026

Beautiful to look at, with fine cinematography and believable sets and costumes from the 1930s. It’s also always fun to watch Jack Nicholson perform. The dark story had the feel of film noir, but it seemed unnecessarily complicated, with too many twists and turns.

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Mireille M

@RT54922496 Jan 20, 2026

I had seen the earlier version...so in my head i knew that in old movies people always get punished for their bad deeds,so i did nt want to get to attached to the characters.What is there to say ....Jack nicolson and Jessica Lange,complexity ,intensity,rawness well done.

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Jerod S

@jeroduptown Jan 21, 2023

Jack and Jessica have a decent chemistry as they plot the death of Jessica's husband and restaurant owner. But, the film is way too long and too tawdry to make an impact beyond a sexual one. It's fun to see A listers in their earlier years, though.

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steve d

@RT35616104 Jan 7, 2023

ok remake because of its actors,

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Bob Rafelson

Director

Jack Nicholson

Frank Chambers

Jessica Lange

Cora Papadakis

John Colicos

Nick Papadakis

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Synopsis

Itinerant troublemaker Frank Chambers (Jack Nicholson) has a meal at a roadside restaurant and meets devastating femme fatale Cora Papadakis (Jessica Lange). As it turns out, Cora is married to the restaurant's owner, Nick (John Colicos). Happy to have a visitor, Papadakis offers Chambers a job. Chambers stays on and begins to help himself to whatever he likes -- including Cora. The two dive headlong into a torrid romance and begin to plot the perfect murder.

Director: Bob Rafelson
Producer: Bob Rafelson, Charles Mulvehill
Screenwriter: David Mamet
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Lorimar Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 20, 1981, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Runtime: 2h 3m

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