Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
34
(14 sources)
34
(14 sources)
-
88
Charlotte Observer
Beach blends all the performing styles smoothly: LL's blithe coolness, Blalock's sultry ambiguity, Liotta's slow-boiling intensity, Ejiofor's dapper amiability, Phifer's brooding intensity. Read Full Review » -
58
Entertainment Weekly
A strange, sprained, but sprightly fusion of "The Usual Suspects" and the "Tragic Mulatto," Slow Burn wants badly to turn its standard neo-noir into a nuanced racial chiaroscuro. Read Full Review » -
50
-
50
TV Guide
No one and nothing can be taken at face value in Beach's twisty tale of secrets and lies, which buries its very interesting idea in a welter of ludicrous dialogue and skin-flick imagery. Read Full Review » -
40
-
40
Variety
What begins as a moderately interesting set of interconnected mysteries involving race and identity soon grows eye-rollingly laborious, not to mention increasingly derivative of Christopher McQuarrie's "Usual Suspects" script. Read Full Review » -
40
The Hollywood Reporter
The sort of cheesy thriller that would prove mildly diverting on late-night cable, Slow Burn at least features a terrific cast to enliven its familiar elements. Read Full Review » -
38
Boston Globe
A veritable rip-off of 1995's "The Usual Suspects," Beach's crime caper not-so-subtly apes Bryan Singer's use of multiple red herrings and flashback-heavy interrogation scenes, but lacks the stylistic flair and sophisticated narrative skills to pull off a similar feat of cinematic intrigue. Read Full Review » -
38
New York Post
An amusingly preposterous last act keeps you guessing, or maybe keeps you ducking, as it lets rip an avalanche of startling revelations and double-crosses. Nothing is what it seems - unless it seems cheesy. Read Full Review » -
30
Los Angeles Times
Beach's storytelling tactics, much like the film as a whole, would simply be annoying if they weren't also borderline insulting. Read Full Review » -
30
Chicago Reader
Shelved for over a year, this incompetent mystery thriller stops periodically so some character or other can deliver an expository speech and pull the plot back on track, but by the end the story has turned into a hair ball. Read Full Review » -
25
San Francisco Chronicle
For all it does right, there's something seriously wrong. Read Full Review » -
20
The New York Times
A wooden police thriller that is as dull as it is impenetrable and ultimately beyond ludicrous. Read Full Review » -
11
Austin Chronicle
The cast, particularly Liotta, walk around with befuddled expressions on their faces, perhaps wondering what on earth they're doing in this movie and how they can find a new agent ASAP. Read Full Review »
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