Dom Hemingway 2013

Wesley Morris, Grantland: The movie keeps crashing into crude shtick, cliche, and mawkishness. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: This pointless study of a witless character is a sad waste of Law's talents. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: "Dom Hemingway" has two terrific things going for it: snappy dialogue (I was quite fond of the accusation "You disrespected my cat") and Law, who's both funny and scary in equal measures. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Dom Hemingway gives [Jude Law] a chance to sink his teeth into one of the meatiest personalities in a genre known for larger-that-life types. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: Dom Hemingway is often ghoulishly funny, with Law, who put on weight for the role and plays up his receding hairline, turning in a larger-than-life performance unlike any he's given before. Read more

Barbara VanDenburgh, Arizona Republic: Dom is effusive with self-destructive charisma, the kind of loose cannon you'd follow into an all-night bender in spite of your better judgment. Read more

Jessica Herndon, Associated Press: An amusing tale of vengeance, debauchery and redemption told stylishly by writer-director Richard Shepard. Read more

Peter Keough, Boston Globe: Shepard ... has his hero puff himself up, repeatedly, only to be drastically deflated, revealing the pitifulness of his braggadocio. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: The real star here is writer-director Richard Shepard, who pumps enough comic juice into the story to revive its shopworn premise of a career criminal hitting the streets again after years in the can. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The material, limited payoff; the performer at the center, never less than arresting. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: You don't so much care where Dom is going as how he's getting there, and he's getting there loud. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The real amazement of Dom Hemingway is that, as written and directed by Richard Shepard, the movie picks up this snarling hooligan and treats him like a character out of Shakespeare. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: A marvelous lead character, and Jude Law, a little puffier and hairier than usual, turns in a career best performance. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A wannabe outrageous gangster saga seems patched together from spare genre parts from a generation ago. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Almost every line is delivered with such overwrought bombast, just inches at times from the camera, you may feel a need to dodge the spittle. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: Going bald is the best thing that ever happened to Jude Law. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Dom Hemingway is often viciously funny, and every time you think the movie has run out of steam, Shepard spins things in a new direction, keeping the energy from flagging (including one of the most startling car crashes I've ever seen in a film). Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: Law, saying farewell to his youthful good looks (Dom has scars and a little too much weight), makes this hyper-articulate ruffian the most intricately soulful character in current movies. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Far from being a breakthrough, "Dom Hemingway" is more of a breakdown, a loose, loud, haphazard collection of parts - and not one of them worthy of the praise Dom heaps so generously on his own. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: There's so little to appreciate in Dom that it's hard to figure out why we're watching a movie about him at all. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: "Dom Hemingway" is a bright, shiny bauble with next to no lasting power. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: The kind of crime flick where the characters volley dialogue like furious ping-pong players, riffing with delight, their lines ripe with pulpy metaphor. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Dom Hemingway suffers from a meandering narrative and inconsistent comedy. Read more

G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle: "Dom Hemingway" isn't about story. It's about Jude Law as a force of nature, and that turns out to be a very entertaining diversion. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: The title character of this florid crime comedy could be an escapee from a Tarantino script, all flashy character traits and verbal overkill. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: While Law bellows blasphemous poetry, his director orchestrates a noirish light show with a cockeyed rhythm. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Dom Hemingway is mainly a one-man show. But it's a hoot to watch Jude Law sink his teeth into such a despicable character ... Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: There are only so many scenes anyone can take of Jude Law (never suited to the geezer role) strutting down streets shooting his gob off. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Jude Law put on 30 pounds to play this slimeball. But the weightier question is, why would he bother to take this worn-out role, at any size? Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Dom Hemingway is an uneven movie, to be sure ... but it's still hard to resist. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Dom's adventures make for a pretty thin garment in which to cloth such an outsize antihero. Read more