The sustained force of Mr. Dumont's vision of existence as a swirl of brute instincts may not be easy to absorb, but it marks him as a major filmmaker.
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
This is one of those films in which the Act of Driving becomes a 10-minute statement of high emptiness; Dumont even manages to make sex in the desert boring.
50
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The New YorkerDavid Denby
The latest minimalist provocation from the infuriating but talented French director Bruno Dumont. [12 April 2004, p. 89]
Embedded between all the sex and sunlight are some woefully underdeveloped ideas about American militarism and masculinity. Dumont doesn't bother to develop these ideas, principally because he seems to think it's enough to arrange his characters like puppets and tear off their heads.
20
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Alas, the plot eventually takes over, and it's exceptionally ugly and unpleasant.
10
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Village VoiceDennis Lim
The "Humanite" director's Death Valley void is the real "Lost in Translation."