Undertow

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Green takes us to that place where we keep feelings that we treasure, but are a little afraid of.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Despite a few narrative confusions, I found it pure magic.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

For anyone who likes classic, offbeat American moviemaking, in the rural-thriller genre from "Moonrise" to "Macon County Jail," Undertow is one to check. Seething with violence, bleeding with lyricism, it's a poem from the junk heap, a cry from the swamp.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

The movie builds slowly to its grinding climax, and the suspense -- the standard by which a thriller must primarily be judged -- is first-rate.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Undertow has the plain, stark, disturbing quality that marked the original "Cape Fear" and "In Cold Blood."

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Although there is violence and danger, this is less about the chase than it is about the relationship between the siblings.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

It's a dreamy Southern gothic, a la "Night of the Hunter," with an emphasis on the dreamy.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Taking great artistic chances in storytelling and performance style, Green finally fulfills the promise he showed in his fine 2000 drama "George Washington" as a terrific builder of mood, atmosphere, and psychological suspense.

Premiere Glenn Kenny

In equal parts powerful and peculiar, the film is not my favorite of Green’s, but it helps solidify his position as one of the most visionary young directors around.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Conforms to many of the tropes of a formula thriller but, aided by an evocative Philip Glass score and Tim Orr's beautifully naturalistic cinematography, it transcends the genre.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

As with the 70's films of Terrence Malick, one of Undertow's producers, the more intoxicated it becomes with rural desolation and fecundity, the more deeply in touch it puts you with its characters' souls.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

The result is a movie that doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, yet some of those parts connect deeply anyway.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Undertow may prove the least immediately satisfying of Green's films, but it remains an achievement, emotionally rich and rife with biblical and mythic undertones.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

However cloying, the movie creates a powerful vortex. It's surprisingly visceral-at times almost thrilling.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

To call Undertow a '70s-style revenge movie is accurate, but those unfamiliar with Green who expect a typical genre picture may wonder why it takes so long to get to the action.

Film Threat Don R. Lewis

Green makes you think and his films are so quiet and subtle, you almost find yourself in the film, wrapped up in the moment.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

Did I fall in love with Undertow? Not in the least. But I liked it alright, and amidst the mediocrity, even rot, that constitutes 98% of contemporary American movies, that'll do fine.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The truth is that Undertow is like a conventional Hollywood movie operating on half its cylinders.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Green may be right to avoid the melodramatic waves of the conventional thriller. But, if so, he needs to dive a lot deeper than this -- there's just not enough under in Undertow.

Empire Anna Smith

While the quirky structure could be taken as a bold move, the story still feels frustratingly incomplete, rendering the preceding hour or so a tantalising glimpse at what could have been.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's no go. Green and Gothic make for a clumsy fit.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

It's an exercise in 1970s mood. But all the film does is conjure, channel, and allude, until there's really no movie of Green's own for an audience to grab onto.

San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer

Loses momentum midway into the boys' journey.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

This southern-fried mess of poetic crime-movie cliches is redeemed by standout performances.

Variety Scott Foundas

A deep-fried piece of Southern Gothic that wears its unpleasantness like a merit badge.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Undertow becomes unbearably imitative and predictable. It's a kids-in-peril B horror movie in the guise of an art film.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White

Despite picturesque episodes and nicely observed characters, the film lacks suspense.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The naturalistic style of the film is completely at odds with the hokey melodrama.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Undertow seems to be straining to say something at once tragic and heartwarming about fathers, sons and brothers, but I'm damned if I know what it is.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

It's just sort of trying.