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Memory of a Killer, The
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 8 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Action | Crime | Drama | Foreign | Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Carl Joos
Erik Van Looy
Jef Geeraerts (novel)
Directed by: Erik Van Looy
Release Date:
Theatrical: August 26, 2005
DVD: February 21, 2006
Running Time: 120 minutes, Color
Origin: Belgium / Netherlands
Summary
RATING: R for violence, sexuality and nudity
Starring Koen De Bouw, Werner De Smedt, Jan Decleir, Jo De Meyere, Hilde De Baerdemaeker, Geert Van Rampelberg, Gene Bervoets, and Patrick Descamps
Angelo Ledda (Decleir) is an international hitman who has been hired to terminate two people in Belgium. Unknown to those around him, Ledda has advanced symptoms of Alzheimers, and this double murder will likely be his last. (Sony Pictures Classics)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
Time Richard Schickel
Without question, the best crime movie of the year--and one of the best movies of any sort now playing.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
The movie itself is as slick, fast and terrifyingly violent as a top-grade American crime thriller, but a lot smarter than most.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Watch Jan Decleir's performance. He never goes for the easy effect, never pushes too hard, is a rock-solid occupant of his character.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A cracking police procedural from Belgian director Erik van Looy, has a jaw-dropping premise so smartly executed that if this movie weren't in Flemish I'd swear that Michael Mann had directed it.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Belgian actor [Jan] Decleir's tough-guy vulnerability ... gives an otherwise standard police procedural extraordinary grace and power.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Director Erik Van Looy skillfully profiles both the assassin (Jan Decleir, suggesting a tougher, over-the-hill version of Michel Piccoli) and the Antwerp detectives investigating his crimes.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Wonderfully acted and energetically filmed, and in fact it partly echoes a real-life pedophilia scandal that rocked Belgian society to its foundations in the '90s.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
A gratifyingly slick and fast-moving Flemish thriller, directed by Erik Van Looy, with superb acting.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Jim Fusilli
This award-winning picture from Belgium is the kind Hollywood seems no longer interested in making: a sophisticated drama that presumes a level of insight and maturity in an audience that doesn't need winks and arrows to understand what's going on.
The New York Times Manohla Dargis
The title character in this nicely kinked Belgian thriller faces a unique adversary: the enemy hot on his heels is Alzheimer's.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
This is one terrific thriller with several wicked tricks up its sleeve, each more satisfying than the last.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The movie is tightly wound and expertly unraveled, resulting in a thriller that you'll remember – unlike the hitman Ledda.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan
With solid performances, competent direction and artfully drab cinematography, the film would be indistinguishable from a Hollywood thriller if not for the Flemish dialogue. It's no surprise to learn that an American remake is in the works.
Read Full Review >New York Post V.A. Musetto
Writer-director Erik Van Looy keeps the action moving briskly. Danny Elsen's cinematography is stylish and the acting top-notch.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego
This Belgian crime thriller makes compelling viewing out of a "you can't be serious" plotline.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen
Although comparisons to the memory-challenged machinations of "Memento" are inevitable, the plotting here takes a more traditionally linear path.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Leslie Camhi
Van Looy has created a fast-paced and stylish thriller. Declair's Ledda, marvelously suave and vulnerable, provides most of the pathos.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A lot of thrillers have asked us to identify with assassins -- but I'd be hard-pressed to name one that makes a hitman as sympathetic, if not sentimental, as The Memory of a Killer.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Marta Barber
This is nothing that a good episode of NYPD Blue hasn't shown myriad times.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Mark Olsen
Director Erik Van Looy has filmmaking chops to spare, and while he has created a sharply shot and crisply paced film, he isn't able to make it all cohere.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Initially, the film comes off as a poor man's "Memento," but it gradually becomes apparent that it's only really interested in its protagonist's Alzheimer's as a cheap plot point to be manipulated or discarded as the filmmakers see fit.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
If you're one of those people who complained that "Memento" could just as well have been told in chronological order, The Memory of a Killer may be your cup of tea.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
tony b. gave it a7:
Ehh this movie was ok, it was way more hollywood then i was expecting. it wasnt smarter then a hollywood movie it was a hollywood movie with subtitles. no i do agree that the majority of american movies have been extremely terrible as of late. if u want to see a saving grace for hollywood films see kiss kiss bang bang by far the best movie of 2005.
john p. gave it a9:
Another example of just how much better cinema is across the pond.
Ken G gave it a10:
Dark, stark, disturbing, poignant movie, which was excellently acted, and has touches that haunt. It takes a no-holds barr approach, not really in that it gives us excessive violence (although there is violence here), but in the way it handles tough, disturbing issues.
Peter L. gave it a10:
Deadpan humor and well-developed action. Great!
Koen gave it a6:
This movie is not bad, as far as thrillers go. It's not my favorite genre though, and not as exciting as other thrillers. One correction though, this is mainly a Belgian movie, and not a Dutch one. All actors are Belgian, the director is Belgian, and the funcing was Belgian too. So, please correct this in your introduction of the movie.
L Mutz gave it a9:
Wonderful camera work. Effectively used to emphasize uncertainty of killer's actions and memory. Great picture compositions. Story develops very well with lots of suspense. Conflicts at many levels of the story create strong interest in audience. Very well acted. Has some strong violence but is done with taste and good effect. I think it's a must see.
