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Reykjavík
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68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 15
  3. Negative: 0 out of 15
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  1. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Marc Mohan
    83
    For those under the impression that Icelandic life consists solely of fishing and the hosting of international summits, this triangle of love, lust, and misunderstanding from director Baltasar Kormakur is a welcome treat.
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  2. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Kevin Maynard
    80
    In spirit, 101 Reykjavík is so Almodóvar that it could melt the polar icecap.
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  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: F. X. Feeney
    80
    First-time director Baltasar Kormakur -- balances tones with a smooth, mature confidence.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    80
    Lola is played by veteran Spanish actress Victoria Abril, one of Pedro Almodovar's favorites, and though the character sounds familiar, Abril brings so much zest and enthusiasm to its creation that it feels original and makes the passion she inspires believable.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Derek Elley
    80
    A funny, touching, off-the-wall relationer that's one of the freshest helming debuts in world cinema this year.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Accurately described as an Icelandic version of Pedro Almodovar's gender-bending black comedies -- but it's also reminiscent of early Woody Allen movies.
  7. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Edward Guthmann
    75
    A wonderful, cockeyed sex comedy.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: A.O. Scott
    70
    Feels as though it is not about much, but it is so well acted that the lassitude becomes a part of the atmosphere.
  9. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    70
    While 101 Reykjavik has already been compared to "High Fidelity," with which it shares the notion of an emotionally immature male narrating a tale of his own failings, it's probably closer to something like "Spanking the Monkey," which took the Oedipal angle even further.
    All this critic's reviews
  10. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    67
    The tone of the film is in keeping with its most resounding image: Hilynur lying in the snow with a cigarette dangling from his mouth as the suicide note on his chest blows away in the wind as he wakes up.
  11. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    63
    Fun to watch it may be, but it's shallow fun. Like the drugs and booze the characters keep using -- and even the sex -- it's a passing pleasure.
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  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Much of this is pretty funny, in its perverse, disorienting style, and there's an irrepressible sunniness to the relationship between Lola and Hlynur's mother.
    All this critic's reviews
  13. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    60
    Kormakur's debut feature fulfills the basic requirements of good slacker comedy: It's grounded in quotidian tedium and frustration, and it acknowledges both the humor and pathos of the relevant coping mechanisms (here, lackadaisical flings, porn addiction, amnesia-courting binges).
  14. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    Characters find themselves in absurdly complicated situations, but respond with sardonic cool rather than hot-blooded hysteria.
  15. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    42
    But the main reason you might find the film a bad trip is that its 30-year-old Holden Caulfield-type hero is so harrowingly unsympathetic: unpleasant, unappealing, self-pitying.
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