The Two Faces of January 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: What the movie lacks in suspense, it could make up for with erotic tension. That's missing, too. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: It lives or dies on its ending, and the final minutes here don't jibe with the rest of the film's cat-and-cat game. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Color it mesmerizing. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: All the pieces would seem to be in place for an effective film, but the direction is zestless, the pace is more often laggardly than leisurely, and the lead performances are surprisingly lifeless ... Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Things get awfully twisted under that hot Mediterranean sun. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: Patricia Highsmith provides the plot and writer-director Hossein Amini supplies the culture in The Two Faces of January, a gripping old-school suspenser. Read more

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, AV Club: January skirts by on its tastefulness and appreciation for the source material, however single-minded. Read more

Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: At a certain point, it's akin to reading a mediocre murder mystery. You finish it because you're too far in to quit, as opposed to actually caring how things wrap up. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: The movie never reaches a boil. Instead, it simmers and simmers until you're suddenly shocked at the hot water you're in. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: [Hossein Amini's] polished storytelling carries this along, generally compensating for the mundane visuals and the actors' skilled but unmoored performances. Read more

Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: The film's major plus is its exotic atmosphere. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Even when the plot threatens to crumble, the actors know what to do with the pieces. Read more

Anthony Lane, New Yorker: You should see it just for Chester-the adventurous sham, running ever deeper into a maze of his own devising. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Perfectly fine - as chilly as a cold platter of octopus salad, as bracing as a shot of ouzo. Read more

Tomas Hachard, NPR: The Two Faces of January feels shot too tight and cut too tight; it doesn't push forward at a bewilderingly fast pace, but its story and its performances still feel like they need more room to breathe. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: There are no jolting twists or shocking reveals. The reward lies mostly in accepting each character on his or her terms. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: There's a mystery here, some thrills and blood, but mostly there are beautiful people and the kind of human hunger that devours everything and everyone in sight. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: Everything about The Two Faces of January is right, even as the events it describes - a couple's idyllic Grecian holiday, a charming American's adventures abroad - go terribly wrong. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Is the film too old-school for short attention spans? Maybe. Rest assured that Amini's shuddery endgame is well worth the wait. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It follows three people, all of them flawed and under pressure, and keeps the audience in sympathy with all three. It's some kind of feat to place three people in conflict and have the audience wish the best for each of them. Read more

Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A stylish directorial debut for screenwriter Hossein Amini. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: An unhurried, louche thriller that gives way to claustrophobia as it starts to get its clammy hands around your neck. Read more

Sam Weisberg, Village Voice: Stewing and scenic, unfolding amid the islands and catacombs of Crete and Athens, and loaded with the usual film-noir delights: fedoras, lipstick-stained highballs, and bare-knuckled fistfights. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Gorgeous, occasionally evocative, but, in the end, mostly dull. Read more

Stephanie Merry, Washington Post: It offers a lesson in crafting antiheroic characters. We don't have to identify with them, but we at least need to be intrigued. Read more