Control
User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 51 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 45 out of 51
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 51
  3. Negative: 5 out of 51

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  1. M.a.P
    Oct 16, 2007
    1
    Without even being a complete Joy Division fan, the band's music has been very significant to me over the years and I really couldn't get over seeing it turned into an illustration of Ian Curtis's wife version of a story that no one but Curtis himself will ever understand... Not to mention the choice of re-recording Joy Division's best songs with Sam Riley impersonating (!?) the deceased lead singer. Like other music biopics, it gets really difficult to tell whether the movie's good or not when the music gets lost on the way...This movie simply reminded me how great Last Days by Gus Van Sant was, expressing a clear personal emotional and artistic celebration of an artist's life. Control was a really frustrating experience.… Collapse
  2. EF
    Nov 17, 2007
    3
    Beautiful but boring. Using the same old romantic individualist conceit, there are no unexpected twists and/or turns to differentiate this from dozens of other biopics. See David C.'s comments above.
  3. DavidC.
    Oct 11, 2007
    1
    Like the band, hate the film. No chemistry between characters, no character developement, extremely contrived (Incase you missed it, he was a genius, did you get that? a genius) and incase you didn't understand the fact that he died, even though its obvious because every one is running about crying, we are told at the end in large writing - Ian Curtis died...... and about time to, but only in a celluloid sense. A fanboy film of the highest order.… Expand
  4. RogueM.
    Oct 27, 2007
    0
    I hated this piece of pretentious rubbish.

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 25 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    The cast is excellent, particularly Riley and Morton and, as Joy Division’s brash manager, Toby Kebbell. He’s a great character, bitter and hostile and a scoundrel: a born manager of talent destined to tear itself apart.
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  2. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Bill White
    67
    Control is director Anton Corbijin's first feature, and he too frequently makes the mistake of falling back on his rock video skills.
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  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    One of the most perceptive of rock music biopics.
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