No 2012

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: "No" is an ugly looking movie - literally - for an ugly time. It's smeary, with little pictorial beauty or detail, but its anti-aesthetic is purposeful and, after your eyes stop hurting, watchable and persuasive. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: There will have to be a hell of a lot of good movies released in 2013 for No not to make my list of the year's 10 best. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: 'No' is never a drag to watch, but paradoxically enough, its self-imposed cinematic restraints inhibit it from selling itself as effectively as it might have. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "No" signals a huge spurt in the filmmaker's growth. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: For anyone fascinated by the political process and the powers of persuasive advertising, No is a resounding yes. Read more

Soren Anderson, Seattle Times: "No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: The most unexpectedly riotous comedy in years -- one with more bite than usual. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: If there are fewer white-knuckle showdowns than in a Hollywood movie, the trade-off is a cool, ironic intelligence that ripples off the screen and up the years to where we live. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: If you can shake off the inherent grossness of mining the Pinochet years for yet another Mad Man-style deification of zeitgeist-grasping salesmen, this is moderately interesting stuff. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: "No" stands proudly in a select sub-category of historical fiction films that work, completely and satisfyingly, as their own movies. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Larrain's unarguable point is that, in politics, if we wait for good to issue only from the pure in heart, we will be waiting a very long time. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Explores the power of popular dissent, and the coordinated persuasions of media, marketing, and targeted advertising in shaping the word no to invigorate a populace pessimistically conditioned to think that nothing will ever change for the good. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: A decisive transitional chapter in Chilean history yields an absorbing account of one country's unlikely route from oppression to democracy Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Say yes to "No." Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Gripping and suspenseful even though the ending is already known. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: The best movie ever made about Chilean plebiscites, No thoroughly deserves its Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Film. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: [Lorrain has] made a few daring choices here, not all of which work. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR: An expansive political thriller. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: The story of it, while true to the moment, needed - ironically - much more dynamism. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Largely a gimmick picture: At all times, it looks like hastily assembled news footage shot on grainy videotape in 1988. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force. Read more

Omer Mozaffar, Chicago Sun-Times: Garcia Bernal quietly carries this film as a soft-spoken kid in blue jeans and untucked shirt. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Nominated by the Academy as the year's best foreign-language film, No grabs you hard, no mercy, and keeps you riveted. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: A troubling, exhilarating and ingeniously realized film that's part stirring political drama and part devilish media satire ... Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It always retains a level of interest, especially for those of us who don't remember - or aren't old enough to remember - which side won. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "No" is filmmaking of the first order. Read more

Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail: A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ... Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: It's a perfectly fine movie, but given its fairly radical storyline, the filmmaking tends to hew toward the safe and the familiar. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The standout entry of the Directors' Fortnight sidebar and the closest thing to a masterpiece that I've seen so far here in Cannes. Read more

Leslie Felperin, Variety: Tense throughout, even for history-savvy auds, but still rich in the sort of Andean-soil-black humor that made Larrain's previous work so distinctive. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Deftly appropriates mediated history for fiction. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "No" isn't nearly as definitive or declarative as its title: It leaves viewers wondering whether they should cheer, shrug or shake their heads. Read more