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El Crimen Perfecto (The Perfect Crime)
Metascore
68 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 21 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 21
  3. Negative: 0 out of 21
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  1. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    91
    De la Iglesia is a mercilessly agile talent.
  2. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Eric Campos
    90
    A wicked good time.
  3. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    88
    It's great fun, propelled by a terrific musical score by Roque Banos that combines the hammering doom of Bernard Herrmann, the antic jollity of Nino Rota and the urgent sprints of Lalo "Mission: Impossible" Schifrin--often in the same crazy scene.
  4. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    80
    El Crimen Perfecto is a joyride that leaves you feeling drunk and dizzy and swearing that you haven't touched a drop.
  5. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: John Patterson
    80
    Writer-director Alex de la Iglesia's bouncy, swaggering satire of ethics-deficient, survival-of-the-fittest free enterprise, peopled by broad grotesques and hysterical caricatures, adds Chabrolian callousness to a cartoonish worldview reminiscent of Frank Tashlin or Joe Dante at their most frenzied.
  6. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Luke Y. Thompson
    80
    Tremendously funny and entertaining.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    80
    Perfectly delightful.
  8. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Walter Addiego
    75
    With his caustic humor, director de la Iglesia is being billed as "the next Almodovar."
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    If anyone is capable of pulling off a deviled screwball with cheeky panache, it's de la Iglesia, who's one of the world's great nutty directors yet to find the American following he so richly deserves.
  10. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    70
    As it progresses from black comedy to something approaching surreal horror, El Crimen Perfecto swells into a nightmare reminiscent of Griffin Dunne's journey through Soho hell in "After Hours."
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Van Gelder
    70
    Mr. Toledo's performance as the shallow and cowardly, yet strangely sympathetic Rafael is a wonder of comic timing, while Ms. Cervera is unforgettable as Lourdes, the ugly duckling who becomes not a swan, but a monster.
  12. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Jim Fusilli
    70
    Fits nicely among the contemporary comedies that teeter at the brink of delivering messages of one sort or another, but are in fact, nothing more than lots of fun. Which is no small achievement.
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  13. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    70
    A seamless mix of satire and suspense, with inspired performances by Toledo and Monica Cervera.
  14. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    67
    Hitchcock and Almodóvar this film isn't, but it's a worthwhile and fairly amusing effort.
  15. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Gianni Truzzi
    67
    Far from perfect, but it only commits minor infractions of inconsistency and zeal for every plot twist.
  16. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Marta Barber
    63
    Fast, frantic and furious, but it is not steadily funny. While not boring, it is too light to be taken seriously.
  17. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    63
    My advice is to choose the first half, where things are really funny until they aren't.
  18. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    60
    The first 60 minutes of this black comedy are brilliantly sustained, but then director and co-writer de la Iglesia loses his way.
  19. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    El Crimen Perfecto has energy, color, spirit and lively performances, but what it does not have are very many laughs.
  20. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    50
    There's not enough good material to fill the film's overlong 105 minutes. Is there an editor in the house?
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jorge Morales
    50
    At its most ludicrously self-referential, the film achieves the perfect meta-moment when Toledo, seeking pointers on how to get away with murder, buys a copy of "Dial M for Murder" (released in Spain as Perfect Crime) and notices the title scans incorrectly as Ferpect Crime.
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User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
9.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. EdwardC.
    9
    I thought the story was really well conceived for what it was and what it wasn't. This style of film requires all reality to be left at the box office. That green face with cleaver in head popping up everywhere was a real Hoot! No American or Anglo would ever think of it.… Full Review »
  2. KenG.
    8
    Edgy, fun, funny, well acted, and done in great style.
  3. BobE.
    9
    Sex and violence meet in the fitting room and have a wildly funny tryst.
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