Story: Spanish language documentary about a Mexican police commander who is also a hit man for a drug cartel, who describes his life of crime for the camera. Cast:El Sicario, Gianfranco Rosi, Charles BowdenDirector:Gianfranco RosiOpened:December 28, 2011From:Icarus FilmsLength:1 hr. 20 min.
El Sicario: Room 164, Good (Not Great) Reviews, Mixed (Doc) NYC
El Sicario: Room 164 played in New York City to good not great reviews. Reviews were mixed. • Alison Willmore wrote for the AV Club, "80-odd minutes spent in a crummy motel suite in the company of a guy with a black mesh cloth covering his head and obscuring his identity.... almost laughably simple, aggressively drab-looking, but it packs a wallop." More Reviews Below...
El Sicario: Room 164 Positive Reviews (7 Reviews, reviews below)
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: FAIR "Like '8 Murders a Day,' Charlie Minn's thought-provoking documentary this year, it is finally less compelling for its random details of multiple brutalities than for its chilling portrait of a country irretrievably rotting from within."(Read the full review...) 279 words, 12/28/11
V.A. Musetto, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Working from a Harper's magazine article by Charles Bowden, director Gianfranco Rosi avoids all embellishments... A wise choice, since the hit man's narration is compelling and frightening on its own."(Read the full review...) 222 words, 12/28/11
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: VERY GOOD "Some of the scenarios he relays and the dialogue he remembers ('Are you gonna talk?') are the stuff of bad gangster movies, but it doesn't make one question the authenticity of the witness -- only proves the degree to which life is pulp."(Read the full review...) 604 words, 12/28/11
KEY CITIES (0 Reviews)
El Sicario: Room 164 has not been reviewed in Key Cities
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (3 Reviews)
Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: VERY GOOD "Some of the scenarios he relays and the dialogue he remembers ('Are you gonna talk?') are the stuff of bad gangster movies, but it doesn't make one question the authenticity of the witness -- only proves the degree to which life is pulp."(Read the full review...) 604 words, 12/28/11
Alison Willmore, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "80-odd minutes spent in a crummy motel suite in the company of a guy with a black mesh cloth covering his head and obscuring his identity.... almost laughably simple, aggressively drab-looking, but it packs a wallop."(Read the full review...) 402 words, 12/29/11
Jesse Cataldo, Slant: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The persistent idea that we're being presented with an unreliable narrator, that there's no way of knowing how much of this anonymous man's story is true, how much of it is high-flown bragging, only makes 'El Sicario' more interesting."(Read the full review...) 492 words, 12/20/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: FAIR "Like '8 Murders a Day,' Charlie Minn's thought-provoking documentary this year, it is finally less compelling for its random details of multiple brutalities than for its chilling portrait of a country irretrievably rotting from within."(Read the full review...) 279 words, 12/28/11
Mark Jenkins, NPR: GOOD "The movie was shot in a single room for its subject's protection.... The stories are horrific, if laced with Tarantino-style humor."(Read the full review...) 575 words, 12/28/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (2 Reviews)
Jordan Mintzer, Daily Variety: MODERATE "...pared-down portrait of a repentant assassin's 20-year career in murder, kidnapping, and torture is captured in one lengthy monologue, with nothing but the interviewee's words to go by.... feels all too literary."(Read the full review...) 266 words, 09/06/10
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: FAIR "Like '8 Murders a Day,' Charlie Minn's thought-provoking documentary this year, it is finally less compelling for its random details of multiple brutalities than for its chilling portrait of a country irretrievably rotting from within."(Read the full review...) 279 words, 12/28/11
20.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
El Sicario: Room 164's reviews are separated by an average 20.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
El Sicario: Room 164 (7 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:El Sicario: Room 164's reviews cover 9.8% of potential readers (average is 68.2%). Volume:The film's reviews total 2,840 words involume (average is 19,979 words). Length:The film's reviews average 406 words in length (the norm is 512 words).
Reviews Broke 21 Days Before Release (Norm is 0.2 Release)
El Sicario: Room 164's reviews on average broke 21 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 0.2 hours after. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is El Sicario: Room 164's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
El Sicario: Room 164 (7 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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