72
Metascore
34 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 91The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasManages to be visually arresting, packed with geeky allusions to everything from Raymond Chandler to "Blue Velvet."
- 90Film ThreatFilm ThreatWith brilliant dialogue out of the 1940s and graceful visuals that add depth to the dark comedy, Johnson debuts with a smart, self-assured feature that portrays adolescence like no other film has.
- 80The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyAll in all, this twerpy little movie is one of the most entertaining pictures to be released so far this year.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterThe mean streets don't get any nastier than the high school parking lots in this cool-crafted mystery.
- 75Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter Travers"Sensational" is the word for Joseph Gordon-Levitt (equally striking in Mysterious Skin), who stars as Brendan, the teen outsider who becomes a budding Bogart.
- 70New York Magazine (Vulture)New York Magazine (Vulture)Writer-director Rian Johnson gives the usual teen angst an entertaining kick. But the joke wears off, and what's left is as convoluted and monotonous as any conventional hard-boiled mystery.
- 70VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyThe story, while derivative, isn't half bad, and the picture gains in finesse and confidence to the point where Johnson more or less pulls off his peril-fraught exercise.
- 70Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesChicago ReaderJ.R. JonesIt's worth seeing for the tightly coiled plot, well-realized characters, and novel take on rapacious teen culture.
- 70Village VoiceMichael AtkinsonVillage VoiceMichael AtkinsonThe hair may thin considerably under Brick's hat after a while, and Hammett redone remains Hammett half done, but while the plates are in the air, it's a spectacle of nerve.
- 70L.A. WeeklyScott FoundasL.A. WeeklyScott FoundasJohnson pulls us into his world and keeps things oddly plausible, despite the intense stylization