60
Metascore
12 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie is directed with efficiency by Michael Apted (Coal Miner's Daughter) who knows that pacing is indispensable to a procedural.
- 75TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineUneven but sometimes fascinating murder mystery.
- 75The Associated PressThe Associated PressMichael Apted's direction keeps the tension high most of the time, and Dennis Potter's screenplay ably wends through the very complex plot that has but a few loose ends. [13 Dec 1983]
- 70The New York TimesJanet MaslinThe New York TimesJanet MaslinOn the whole, Mr. Apted's approach to the material is archly effective, making for a crisp, intricate thriller, well able to hold an audience's interest.
- 63Miami HeraldBill CosfordMiami HeraldBill CosfordIt's not a movie for the easily distracted, but it has its rewards for those who pay attention. [19 Dec 1983, p.C6]
- 50Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrApted's tedious, literal-minded approach doesn't come close to solving the problems of a knotty, best-seller plot—the characters are reduced to telling each other what happened. Some action-movie slam-bang would have been more satisfying, if ultimately no more coherent.
- 50Time OutTime OutHurt and Dennehy are excellent, as ever, but Marvin is badly miscast as a ruthless smoothie; and the film as a whole, while never less than involving, seldom generates any real suspense as it moves towards a curiously muffled showdown.
- 40Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldA number of grievous things have gone wrong with Gorky Park, the disappointing film version of Martin Cruz Smith's savory mystery novel, in its transition from print to celluloid. But chief among them is the casting of William Hurt as the leading man. [16 Dec 1983, p.F10]
- 30Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyHurt's horrendous, with his goofy stilted accent. He talks as though he swallowed a bathtub. [16 Dec 1983, p.24]