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Noise
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 16 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 16
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 16
  3. Negative: 0 out of 16
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  1. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    75
    A satisfyingly screwy New York story.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    75
    As a follow-up to his striking 2002 directorial debut, "The Believer," this second obsessive study in fanaticism by writer-director Henry Bean has its own delirious integrity and outsider-art charm.
  3. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    75
    The black comedy Noise may be a one-joke movie but it's a resonant one.
  4. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Carina Chocano
    70
    Robbins plays David with the self-assurance that there's no combination sexier than smart, funny and self-righteously angry.
  5. Slate
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    Noise is never quite as smart as it tries to be. But as summer and its mouth-breathing blockbusters loom large on the horizon, there's something touching about a movie that even tries.
  6. The New Yorker
    Reviewed by: David Denby
    70
    Bean's touch is unsteady, and Noise is certainly odd, but the movie is alive with the creative madness of New York.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    63
    The movie has enough big-city wickedness and merry cruelty to keep things skittering unpredictably.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Ken Fox
    63
    Bean fills in some empty spaces with heady thoughts about the nature of power and beauty, but the movie's real appeal lies in the simple but by no means inconsiderable pleasure of watching Tim Robbins take a hammer to a parked car as it wails pointlessly, deep into the night.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    63
    Eccentric and generally entertaining.
  10. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    50
    It's wickedly amusing for a little bit -- Robbins and Hurt really get into it -- but ultimately the film becomes what it's fighting: just noise.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    50
    Noise ultimately becomes a slice of city life instead of a great satire.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    Noise has too many warring genres on the boil and too many thoughts jockeying for supremacy.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Jay Weissberg
    50
    Amusing but marginal diatribe against aural assault in Manhattan.
  14. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    42
    Bean always writes interesting scripts that toy with big ideas, but the films that result aren't always good. (Or even bearable.) Here he sets out to make an aural "Fight Club," but instead he's made a movie about a guy who really needs to buy earplugs.
  15. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Stephen Farber
    40
    Despite its intriguing premise, the movie is a disappointing misfire.
  16. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    40
    The movie, whose cacophonous soundtrack, when turned up, conjures your worst nightmare of sirens, car alarms, jackhammers and sundry aural assaults, is a one-trick film that rapidly wears out its welcome.
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User Reviews

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User Score
6.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 1 out of 3
  1. JohnA.
    8
    With all due respect, the criticism that "sounds of city living" pale in comparison to global warming, terrorism, and economic collapse misses, from my viewing, the obvious metaphor that that same forces that propel the usage of car alarms (which have proven to be ineffective in reducing theft) are the same that continue to cause global warming and economic colllapse. I agree there might be too many ideas jockying for supremacy but the call to look beyond the surface and stand alone, if need be, against these forces resonates throughout. Actually, the film (which carries some very witty dialogue) is prescient in this sense: after all, we did stand up and elect President Obama: the film inspires the hope that, even if we start with city noise, we can pull together to stop billion dollar no-bid contracts for trillion dollar, unnecessary wars. As David (Tim Robbins) declares, what if Jonas Salk had made appeasement with polio. The director has enough sense to encase the Dr. Salk reference, with an awareness of its delusions of grandeur, in one of the film's sweetest scenes of husband and wife teasing and embracing on a quiet sofa. Is that really too much to ask?… Full Review »
  2. KenG.
    2
    Yeah, in a world of global warming, terrorism, and economic collapse car alarms and other natural sounds of city living are among the world's biggest problems. This is just a ridiculous story, filled with ridiculous characters. Also, from a narrative standpoint, it is kind of an incorhent mess.… Full Review »
  3. JayH.
    6
    Fine story with solid direction and a great screenplay. The cast is terrific and it is always interesting and well paced.
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