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Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) Rank 5 Reviews

Expert Review Summary
Movie critics combined give Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) a score of 2.7333 out of 4
based on (30) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Excellent
4
Excellent
(3)
Very Good
3
Very Good
(18)
Good
2
Good
(9)
Fair
1
Fair
(0)
Poor
0
Poor
(0)
Reviews by Score:
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Time (Richard Schickel)Time (Richard Schickel)
Patient and plodding -- but as realized by John Malkovich, in his directorial debut, utterly absorbing. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Time (Richard Schickel)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.60 out of 4 stars for Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Studded with terrorist attacks... Yet Malkovich never exploits these for action-movie thrills: in each instance the loss of life is terrible and the morality of the act is left treacherously ambiguous. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Chicago Reader (J.R. Jones)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.52 out of 4 stars for Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
A story of obsession and honor, deception and self-deception set against a sharply etched landscape of political upheaval and intrigue. Malkovich orchestrates all this with assuredness, and Bardem, looking weary and worn, inhabits his character with a ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Steven Rea)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.32 out of 4 stars for Entertainment Weekly (Owen Gleiberman)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Village Voice (J. Hoberman)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Los Angeles Times (Manohla Dargis)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Slate (David Edelstein)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Salon.com (Andrew O'Hehir)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Variety (David Rooney)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for Film Threat (Rick Kisonak)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.20 out of 4 stars for The New York Times (Elvis Mitchell)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Malkovich weaves something delicate and devastating. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Premiere (Glenn Kenny)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 3.00 out of 4 stars for Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.80 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Stephen Hunter)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.52 out of 4 stars for Chicago Tribune (Michael Wilmington)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.52 out of 4 stars for Boston Globe (Ty Burr)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.52 out of 4 stars for The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (Liam Lacey)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.52 out of 4 stars for ReelViews (James Berardinelli)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)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.40 out of 4 stars for The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
Though he never quite rescues the film, Bardem continually suggests the tensions bubbling under the surface that Dancer itself never penetrates. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
The movie fails at the primary steps of turning Rejas' mind inside out and dramatizing the contradictions in his heart and soul. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Baltimore Sun (Michael Sragow)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Casting a film set in Latin America with Spanish-and Italian-speaking performers acting in English misfires; the actors' diverse accents clash, some are clearly more fluent than others and the sense of relief when anyone speaks a rare line in Spanish is ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Has many of the qualities that made the actor such a great target for self-parody in Spike Jonze's "Being John Malkovich" - it's sober, deliberate, self-consciously mysterious and no fun at all. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at New York Daily News (Jack Mathews)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
An ambitious political thriller, a multilingual film of mood and texture and the occasional haunting image. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for Film Threat (Anthony Miele)Film Threat (Anthony Miele)
Humorous yet subtle characters aid Malkovich in creating a film that is engaging and entertaining, while at the same time lumbering during long stretches. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Film Threat (Anthony Miele)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 2.00 out of 4 stars for Washington Post (Desson Thomson)Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
The only reason this dilemma has any import is thanks to Bardem, who almost single-handedly drags the film along. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Washington Post (Desson Thomson)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 1.68 out of 4 stars for Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
A murky, turgid work that is no doubt exactly the film Malkovich wished to make but is so indirect and affected as to border on incoherent. ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Portland Oregonian (Shawn Levy)
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) scores a combined 1.60 out of 4 stars for Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)
Falters in small but important ways -– the suspense, carefully ratcheted up throughout, just plain goes busto in the film’s final moments -– while Malkovich stays resolutely behind the camera, a consummate professional who, this time, ...read the complete Dancer Upstairs movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marc Savlov)

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Movie Reviews: Drama
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) Reviews
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003)

RANKINGS:

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Ratings and rankings are based on number of movie, review scores, awards & other criteria.
Overall Rating:
2.5020
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
Avg Critic Score:
2.7333
Dancer Upstairs, The (2003) is ranked overall as out of 4 stars
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