83
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertLike the listeners at the feet of a master storyteller, we find ourselves visualizing what Gregory describes, until this film is as filled with visual images as a radio play—more filled, perhaps, than a conventional feature film.
- 91The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsTheir talk feels as unforced as it is intense, but even that’s an illusion piled on top of an illusion. The film keeps returning to questions about the nature of reality and the function of performance, whether in theater or in everyday life.
- 90The GuardianThe GuardianIt's a riveting, provocative film that rewards several viewings.
- 90Time OutTime OutRiveting, exhilarating stuff.
- 90NewsweekJack KrollNewsweekJack KrollA unique and provocative film, ironic, funny, crazy and moving. [26 Oct 1981, p.78]
- 80The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelThis is a bizarre and surprisingly entertaining satirical comedy--the story of the search beyond theatre turned into theatre, or, at least, into a movie.
- 75Slant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierSlant MagazineJoseph Jon LanthierThe fact that people don’t talk like this in real life isn’t a flaw in the film: It’s a tragic social deficiency.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyIt's the achievement of Mr. Malle, the director of Atlantic City, Pretty Baby and a lot of other very fine, conventional movies, that he has successfully turned his two real-life personalities into actors capable of representing themselves.
- 60EmpireDavid ParkinsonEmpireDavid ParkinsonA completely merited cult favourite of the avant-garde genre. This is surprisingly compelling in places.