42
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 67The Film StageJared MobarakThe Film StageJared MobarakI don’t think John Ridley’s Needle in a Timestack (adapted from the short story by Robert Silverberg) quite reaches the full potential of its conceit, but it comes close while overcoming any early preconceptions.
- 65PolygonRoxana HadadiPolygonRoxana HadadiNeedle in a Timestack lacks the interior worldbuilding necessary to pull off its heartstring-tugging intentions, and the result is a movie that unintentionally confirms how no good ever comes from men who obsessively refuse to leave women alone.
- 50Austin ChronicleJosh KupeckiAustin ChronicleJosh KupeckiIt’s the lack of tension, overlong running time, and ultimately mawkish message that makes Needle a nonstarter.
- 50San Francisco ChronicleBob StraussSan Francisco ChronicleBob StraussThe movie is almost all conversations, most of which are intriguing and sensitively structured, with little action. It’s enough, but not worth changing the world for.
- 50Los Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaLos Angeles TimesMichael OrdoñaOdom, surely one of the busiest actors working today, gives a committed performance but lacks chemistry with either of his onscreen wives. A sense of lightness, of fun, of the alchemy between two people is missing, though it would seem crucial to drive the story.
- 50RogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiRogerEbert.comPeter SobczynskiAs it turns out, this literary curiosity proves to be far more interesting than the finished film, which takes an undeniably interesting premise and then fails to make good use of it.
- 50Screen RantMae AbdulbakiScreen RantMae AbdulbakiWhile Needle in a Timestack aims to be profound, it loses itself within the sci-fi premise rather than exploring the central romance in any detail.
- 30The New York TimesElisabeth VincentelliThe New York TimesElisabeth Vincentelli[A] sluggish, blandly slick time-travel romance.
- 25Slant MagazineMark HansonSlant MagazineMark HansonThe film is too blinded by manufactured sentimentality to see the more compelling what-if scenario lying right in front of its eyes.