Nearly everything in the Coen brothers' latest and biggest film seems like a wizardly but artificial synthesis, leaving a hole in the middle where some emotion and humanity should be.
eFilmCritic.com
April 03, 2005
Criminally overlooked and sinfully wonderful Coen brothers comedy. Jennifer Jason Leigh is just flawless here.
Suite101.com
February 01, 2014
Few of the Coen Brothers' films spike the vein of pure pleasure as easily. It's an irresistibly loquacious, unpredictably riotous comedy that dares you to keep up with its daffiness and doesn't give a damn whether you get left behind.
A jeering, dreamlike comedy with nothing much on its mind except how neat the Coen brothers are and how stupid or contemptible everybody else is, including everyone in the audience.
An impressive technical achievement--the period New York sets are to die for -- and its version of the invention of the hula-hoop is a comic highlight.
Movies are, after all, about fakery; so is the story of Norville's rise and fall and redemption.
Looking Closer
January 15, 2005
[The Coens'] inventive style and the over-the-top performances from Robbins and Newman make this a feast for the eyes and a barrel of laughs.
EmanuelLevy.Com
August 04, 2010
A pastiche of a movie that lacks distinct identity and authenticity, made up of borrowed parts from scrwball comedies Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, and Preston Sturges.
