They Shoot Horses, Don't They? 1969

Vincent Canby, New York Times: The movie is by far the best thing that Pollack has ever directed (with the possible exception of The Scalphunters). Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: The material is simple and irresistible, and Sydney Pollack stages it well (though without transcending the essential superficiality of his talent). Read more

Time Out: The acting is strident and overblown, the narrative technique gimmicky and obvious, and the implication that the competitors' situation is a microcosm of a wider-reaching American malaise rather pretentious. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: A sordid spectacle of hard times, a kind of existentialist allegory of life. Read more