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People I Know
Metascore
53 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 20 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 20
  3. Negative: 3 out of 20
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  1. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    90
    The very considerable impact of the picture is mainly the work of two men, the author and the star.
  2. Empire
    Reviewed by: David Hughes
    80
    Considering the ignominy of its path to British cinemas, it’s hard not to approach the film with caution, but after a few minutes in the company of an unusually low-key but typically world-weary Al Pacino, it begins to win you over, dragging you deeper into the sleazy political underworld it describes.
  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    80
    Trashy and lurid as this movie is, it’s certainly not boring, and it keeps its star in hog heaven throughout.
  4. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    80
    Compelling 24-hour odyssey into the life of a world-weary Gotham publicist, driven by a vivid performance from Al Pacino.
  5. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    Pacino's performance in People I Know is the best thing he's done in ages.
  6. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Nasty but compulsively watchable.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    70
    Would like to think of itself as a film on the edge, a contemporary descendant of "Sweet Smell of Success." But as it dawdles along, it fails to find contemporary corollaries to the super-charged language and caffeine-fueled pace of that grimy 1957 masterpiece.
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    63
    It won't be a waste of time to watch these people — on cable, and probably not too far in the future.
  9. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    63
    In the midst of material that's dusty and dated, People I Know somehow feels apocalyptic. How is this possible? Easy: When America's liberal conscience is in the sole care of a publicist, you just know the world's going to hell in a handbasket.
  10. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Rich Cline
    60
    The only complaint is that the plot ultimately tries to take over the character drama with twists, turns and some rather pointed preachiness. But at least it's fiercely smart about it. And Algrant's final shot is gorgeous.
  11. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    60
    Although a marked improvement over Algrant's nightmarishly whimsical debut, "Naked in New York," People I Know is perfumed less by the sweet smell of success than the musty aroma of the Miramax vault.
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    As it is, the story collapses like a bad tip to Liz Smith. Still, there's something brash, retro, and even stupidly touching about all the chatty mania, and the way Baitz and Pacino get off on paranoia, conspiracy theories, and the lure of 1960s idealism.
  13. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jami Bernard
    50
    It was filmed in and around the World Trade Center, and the subsequent cuts, reshoots and sleights of hand designed to obscure that fact prove devastating.
  14. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    50
    Becomes tiresome.
  15. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    40
    Pacino's no-holds-barred performance is either the reason to see this tepid thriller or the reason to avoid it. His evocation of a Sidney Falco-style flack worn to a nub by decades of trying to spin this dirty town is nothing if not bravura.
  16. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    40
    The picture has a lax, sleepy vibe: There's never anything taut or electric about it. And so, like Pacino's character, we sleepwalk through it.
  17. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    40
    As a thriller, People I Know -- which has languished unreleased since 2001 -- is barely plausible. As a critique of the meshing of power politics between East and West coasts, the movie is more smart-alecky than wise.
  18. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    30
    It's not often that you see talented, well-meaning people joined together like cultists in the snare of a group delusion, but that's what makes this film fascinating, the proverbial accident you can't take your eyes off.
  19. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    30
    Not a pretty sight, any of it.
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  20. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    25
    Smushes together “The Bonfire of the Vanities” (the novel, that is), “True Believer,” and “Eyes Wide Shut,” only it does so without being nearly as good as any of the aforementioned.
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User Reviews

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User Score
3.9 out of 10

Generally unfavorable- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 6
  3. Negative: 4 out of 6
  1. PatC.
    5
    Solid but somehow empty expose of behind-the-scenes political engineering. The show is watchable because no one can play a strung-out character like Pacino, but I was not convinced that Pachino's character would suddenly have a crises of conscience in a career path he had bought into for 30 years. The attraction between Pacino and Basinger was forced to the hilt and still did not come off. No, that's not right. More precisely, it was awful.… Full Review »
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