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Herod's Law
Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 11
  3. Negative: 0 out of 11
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  1. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    90
    A bombshell in its home country, Herod's Law is made with the kind of flair that ensures a following everywhere politicians are venal and voters hope against hope for deliverance.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    88
    Incisive, highly entertaining political farce.
  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: John Patterson
    80
    A bracingly sarcastic political comedy -- it opens on a bound copy of Mexico's Constitution, stuffed with cash -- possessed of a baleful satiric eye for hypocrisy and greed, a delicious anti-clerical bent, and pitch-perfect comic timing.
  4. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Gregory Weinkauf
    80
    Smart, sassy and much more fun than most political diatribes.
  5. Variety
    Reviewed by: Leonardo Garcia Tsao
    80
    Provocative, well-shot and vastly entertaining in its malice.
  6. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Allison Benedikt
    75
    Estrada can be faulted for not fully developing these supporting characters, or for not weaving them seamlessly into his story. His eye all along is so clearly and surely on The Point that at times plot details and peripheral performances are washed over.
  7. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Ted Shen
    70
    Estrada references Welles throughout with his low-angle deep-focus shots, grotesque close-ups, and brassy sound track. The actors are uniformly excellent, embracing their arch roles without succumbing to caricature.
  8. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    50
    The film is bold and passionate, but not subtle, and that is its downfall.
  9. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    50
    Suffers from its enthusiasm, so fueled by anger and emotion that storytelling grows clouded. Irreverence gives way to polemic, then to an orgy of violence.
  10. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    40
    It’s too didactic to be a spaghetti Western but lacks the moral compass required of a more evolved philosophical statement.
  11. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    40
    The angrier the film gets, the less funny it becomes, squelched by heavy-handed polemics, a maddeningly repetitive musical score, and a running time that drags its overriding joke into the ground.
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User Reviews

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User Score
8.9 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 0 out of 5
  1. kentMOsabe
    10
    I would like to start my review with a couple of words of wisdom to all those "critics" that mis-reviewed this movie: please abstain from reviewing Mexican movies. I am sure you made a couple of bucks from the many corporations that probably paid you to make such statements, but give it a break, at least don't make it obvious that you were paid off by writing a couple of lazy lines with absolutely no proof whatsoever that you even actually watched the movie. Unfortunately for you, this was not meant to be a Hollywood blockbuster movie with CG graphical effects, heroes and happy endings. This is a film made in Mexico for Mexicans and if you do not understand the political, historical or social implications behind it, then this movie is probably not for you. Maybe you don't understand the Mexican brand of comedy, Maybe you don't get Mexican history or Politics, or maybe you watched a different movie from the one I watched...but keep in mind that no matter what you do to bring down this movie, everyone who has actually watched it probably did so because they are bored and tired of Hollywood and pointless American movies and they probably, for sure, don't feel the same way you do. It's time for you to understand that American movies and culture is not the only one that matters in the world. It's been 12 years since this movie came out at the turn of the century, but here I am reviewing it and it is now 2011, and many more Mexican films from the resurrected Mexican Cinema have come throughout this decade, many of which make Hollywood films look like lazy B movies. It is sad because out of all the American movies I have watched this decade, absolutely none even deserve to be reviewed at all; and yes that's how bad they are. I am baffled by the fact that nobody watches good movies like this one, and instead turn to the utter crap made by Hollywood.… Full Review »
  2. Tono111
    10
    Estrada manages to encapsulate in the life of a "God forgotten" town how political power works. Even better, the humor is extraordinary. It´s got all the usual irony and surrealism expected of politics and life in a small town. I really don´t understand the poor reviews from critics. It´s really not a "Third World" issue, it´s all about the transformation of an individual from nobody to a dictator as dictated by his context told in an allegorical way. The humor critics probably didn´t get is a vehicle to portray abuse and corruption, which is done superbly. Worth mentioning is Damian Alcazar´s role as the main character, he is excellent (his dramatic roles are also impressive, for example in the Colombian movie Satanás).… Full Review »
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