Critic Reviews
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) Rank 3 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (30) reviews
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Fair
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Reviews by Score:
Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
The movie has a mystery, and moral unease, that lingers. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)
Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Initially engrossing, The Dancer Upstairs slackens in its second half. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Village Voice (J. Hoberman)
Los Angeles Times (Manohla Dargis)
If the screenwriter and director had followed their cinematic instincts fully, they would have collaborated on one of the more satisfying political thrillers in years; instead, they've managed to create three-quarters of one. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Los Angeles Times (Manohla Dargis)
Slate (David Edelstein)
The film has a foggy cast to it--flat and insinuatingly creepy, like the actor. But then it can be lit, in an instant, by searing flash-pots of cruelty and wit. Even when it's slightly opaque, it's transfixing. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Slate (David Edelstein)
Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
The Dancer Upstairs, is a haunting and often beautiful work, part doomed romance and part political thriller, that demonstrates the adult command of the medium Malkovich has always demonstrated as an actor. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)
Variety (David Rooney)
The film is powered by a superbly controlled performance from Javier Bardem. While it lacks economy and could have used a firmer hand in shaping the key central relationship, this intelligent, arrestingly sober drama packs a cumulative punch. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Variety (David Rooney)
The New York Times (Elvis Mitchell)
Echoes its director's own deportment as a performer, alternating silky smoothness with burlap coarseness. Though Mr. Malkovich stays entirely behind the scenes, he creates a languorous but gripping story of people fighting to stay a step ahead of ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at The New York Times (Elvis Mitchell)
Film Threat (Rick Kisonak)
The movie does an admirable job of juggling political, dramatic and comic elements. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Film Threat (Rick Kisonak)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
This is a thriller that embraces stillness and silence where others prefer noise and bombast. It thrives on the hush before the explosion instead of its aftermath, and it's that eerie sense of expectation that gives the film its thick aura of suspense. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Malkovich weaves something delicate and devastating. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Elegantly, even languorously, photographed by Jose Luis Alcaine, who doesn't punch into things but regards them, so that we are invited to think about them. That doesn't mean the movie is slow; it moves with a compelling intensity toward its conclusion. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)
Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
Malkovich is more interested in hitting notes of elegiac lyricism than delivering socko action; this is a thriller that means to get under your skin rather than make you leap from your seat. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Premiere (Glenn Kenny)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Bardem delivers the kind of performance the director might have given himself: subdued, thoughtful, wry, sometimes a bit too detached. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
It's not a great film, but in its reckless audacity -- an American director working from a British novel set in Latin America, dealing with the largest themes of Latin American art, politics and history -- it's reassuring. Someone's still willing to take ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
The movie is often both smart and creepy, but it's still a novice effort. After an initially engrossing start, it stumbles through a series of implausible coincidences and murky events, barely held together by the magnetic performance of Javier Bardem. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)
Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Far from perfect but completely unique, the film could best be described as a paranoid South American metaphysical political thriller -- you heard me -- and whatever its failures, they're not ones of nerve or imagination. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Boston Globe (Ty Burr)
Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
A promising film rather than a fully realized one. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)
ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
Ambitious material for a first-time directorial outing, but, even with a huge assist from his lead actor, Malkovich doesn't nail it. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at ReelViews (James Berardinelli)
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