Brighton Rock 2010

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: The film as a whole often feels like an exercise in style over substance, especially as it becomes clear just how many times we've seen these kinds of characters in this kind of story before. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Mr. Joffe has turned "Brighton Rock" into a full-scale film noir with the stylistic undertow of a more modern British gangster movie. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: What might have been a long walk off a short pier becomes a valid, vital rethinking of a crime classic. Read more

Logan Hill, New York Magazine/Vulture: Brighton's "not what she used to be," says one gangster, and that sure is a shame: The 1947 adaptation was so much more, and so much more strange. Read more

John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: The film is almost distractingly beautiful to look at, something that accentuates the tension between the film's conflicting quantities, i.e., the glories of the physical world, and the corrupted humanity it hosts. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: As remakes go, this "Brighton Rock" is probably unnecessary, but it's a well- acted, stylishly filmed thriller and a good story well told. Read more

Keith Phipps, AV Club: While the new Brighton Rock makes a great case for Brighton being a fine setting for a grim crime drama, it only intermittently looks like the sort of film that setting deserves. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: What was once an impurely pure outpost of Graham Greeneland now feels a bit like the Who's "Quadrophenia,'' with mods and rockers mixing it up around the edges. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: I'm still trying to figure out what mods have to do with Brighton Rock, and I can only guess that Joffe glommed onto the little town's best known pop-culture credential in hope of connecting with a broader, or perhaps younger, international audience. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The new film version of Graham Greene's 1938 novel "Brighton Rock" isn't very good, but if you haven't yet seen the 1947 film version of Greene's book, do so! It's the right time to do so. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Brighton Rock is still compelling, which proves yet again that Greene is such a cinematic storyteller that his books are nearly damageproof. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: There's a brutish beauty to the mean world of Brighton Rock that feels very '40s even in the '60s. Read more

Ray Bennett, Hollywood Reporter: Rowan Joffe's film of Graham Greene's 1938 novel Brighton Rock takes a gothic approach to the story of a young thug obsessed with hell with little of the writer's subtlety and too much reliance on a loud quasi-religious choral score. Read more

David Thomson, The New Republic: Drab in color, with very little of Brighton-they shot in neighboring Eastbourne, apparently because Brighton is too posh now to be its old self. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: The extreme innocence of Rose (Andrea Riseborough), the young girl whom Pinkie seduces in order to keep her quiet, is no longer very convincing, or even interesting. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Mirren is marvelous, as is Riley. The score, with Martin Phipps clearly channeling Bernard Herrmann, is full of tentative, melancholy melodies and dark, swirling moods. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: Where the first film had a lawyer spouting Shakespeare, this one mostly has visual panache - crosses and crucifixes rather than dialogue about religion. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A beautiful-looking noir about a British gangster whose trap for a witness messes up his mob life. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Screams "student film" with practically every frame. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It is about helplessness and evil, but isn't merciless enough. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: All in all, this new Brighton Rock strikes me as a minor but effective exercise in neo-noir style. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Joffe commits the novice director's mistake of using every visual trick in the book and a few not yet recorded. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Brighton Rock" doesn't rise to classic status, but it's an intriguing mood piece. Read more

Jordan Riefe, TheWrap: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Evocative music and stylish visual flourishes from first-time director Rowan Joffe bring heft to a predictable thriller set during a summer of youthful unrest. Read more

Karina Longworth, Village Voice: As Brighton Rock attempts to zero in on Rose and Pinkie's dangerous relationship, it loses momentum. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Read more