The Details 2012

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: The movie is many things, but a mess isn't one of them. Estes knows exactly what he wants. Whether it's worth wanting is another matter. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Instead of turning soft and squishy, this examination of karma gets tougher as it goes along. Its refusal to settle into a cozy niche may be commercially disastrous, but I take it as a sign of integrity. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: As the title suggests, it's all in the details, which writer-director Estes provides in large if not always convincing doses. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: It's more interested in admiring its own architecture than building something worth residing in. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: It's hard to make a fine actress like Laura Linney look off-key and shrill, but "The Details" manages to do just that. It's hardly an accomplishment. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: [A] provocatively acrid adult comedy of lies, deceits, and a touch of murder. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: It all adds up to create a dicey morality tale that's as improbable as it is strangely believable. Read more

Joel Arnold, NPR: In exploring how easily and strangely the life Jeff and Nealy have built together unravels, The Details lays out a series of mundane and dangerous objects as signposts - provocative keys to the film's darkly comedic and tense puzzle. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "The Details" cancels itself out by being too campy to take seriously and too tragic to laugh at. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: "The Details" is not just entertaining, but potentially useful. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: It's a frustrating movie in its inconsistency. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: The perpetrators and victims here are all such smug, dull caricatures that none of the intended satirical barbs have anywhere to land. Read more

Matt Singer, Time Out: This attempt at black comedy is so busy twisting through its plot that it barely has time for its characters. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: As if to justify its own title, The Details is familiar in its plotting but uproarious in its incidents. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: "The Details" wears its quirky heart on its sleeve, signaling (and smirking at) its own silliness, at every opportunity, with an intrusively antic score that makes everything sound like a giant joke. Read more