Time Out
User Score
7.2 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 19 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 19
  3. Negative: 2 out of 19

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  1. ChadS.
    Jul 17, 2002
    10
    "Time Out" is an art film. "Amelie" is a commercial film that just happens to be from France. I'm not knocking the Jean-Pierre Jeunet charmer but this amazing movie by Laurent Cantet is the French import people should be going ga-ga over. Cantet nails scene after scene like when Vincent (Aurelian Recoing) parks his car for overnight lodging in the lot after a meeting with his friend/client, or when our vagabond walks through the United Nations headquarters. All those lies Vincent has to maintain, and yet so functional with loved ones. Recoing is superb. I also like how "Time Out" has the same storyline as an episode of "The Flintstones" in which Fred becomes The Gravelberry Pie King. Well, there goes my credibility. … Expand
  2. AndyS.
    Apr 5, 2002
    7
    If the Greek tragedians were making movies set in the contempory corporate West , and if concision and compression and plot were no longer important to them, and if they were French, they might come up with something like Time Out. It ends on a genuinely tragic note, expressing an inconsolable desolation (of the existential flavor, naturalment) which is at once deeply personal to the main character and emblematic of his society. In short, this is not a good date movie. You and your companion will feel the terminal ennui of life in our soulless culture, which is not to be confused with an aphrodisiac. On the other hand, you will witness remarkable acting, beautiful pictures, and the knockout ending which is worth the price of admission. I say give it a try.… Expand
  3. JeanetteD.
    Jun 28, 2002
    10
    I was drawn into the character as I've seldom been. Empathy big time.
  4. PaulaW.
    Mar 3, 2003
    7
    The concept is promising, and the movie gets off to a good start: a laid-off executive drives around all day, calling his wife at intervals to tell her he's in meetings, covering the mouthpiece when the kids at the playground get too noisy. It can't last and he digs himself deeper and deeper in an attempt to keep up appearances at home. This is a painful story to watch, and the pitch-perfect, unflinching acting makes it even more so. But the pain is ratcheted up to unbearable and, I think, unnnecessary levels by the glacial pace at which the story moves. In many scenes we watch in real time as the protagonist pulls off the highway and into a parking lot, in silence. The visuals in the movie are stylish enough in an anti-stylish way: cramped, flat, indoors, in the car or under a cloudy sky, but nothing that justifies holding each shot this long. The 132 minutes of the movie seem as long as the entire seven months of the character's ordeal. This may be the point, to make you feel the character's pain and bewilderment as he feels it, but that's more pain than I care to volunteer for. … Collapse
  5. MarcK.
    Apr 7, 2002
    4
    Stunned to see the high ratings given to this film by most critics. While not at all a boring movie, I'm bored by watching existentialism in a movie. Might be a hit with college students though!
  6. HowardS.
    Apr 8, 2002
    10
    A perfect follow-up to "Human Resources."
  7. VidaB.
    Jun 28, 2002
    9
    I liked the movie very much: plot, acting, filming, music. The double ending was confusing. But then it gave me a great deal to mull. The change in the character during the interview was superb.
  8. Ryan
    Sep 15, 2003
    10
    The ending makes me cry. Its heartbreaking irony, intense emotions, and beautiful music are just too much. No other film in 2002 came close to achieving the power of this film.
  9. JFHarrumph
    Aug 8, 2004
    10
    Um let me make an immediate point that everyone, including the critics, seems to have missed: the movie isn't about existentential crisis and high falutin abstract concepts, it's about the mental illness of the Vincent character. It's about a condition of deep denial. It happens and it's real. The movie is highly effective, and the content of the movie demanded the slow creepy pacing, anything otherwise would have been ineffective. I was knocked out by it.… Expand
  10. KlondikeV.
    Jul 23, 2002
    1
    this movie was terrible! it felt like a long slow death... and i'm usually a fan of "art" movies! i can't believe what high marks and praise people have given it here.. the main character was a psychopath! there was nothing sympathetic about him!
  11. ButteredPopcorn
    Nov 16, 2003
    6
    I think Paula W.'s review about hit it on the head. I kept waiting to find a little something more in this movie, but it just didn't come. The character who plays the smuggling kingpin stole the show.
  12. JimL.
    Feb 28, 2003
    3
    Boring. Didn't find anything - characters, plot or actions- of interest here.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 30
  3. Negative: 0 out of 30
  1. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Rich Cline
    80
    This is brilliant filmmaking.
    Read full review
  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    75
    A well-crafted indictment of the dark side of the modern work ethic.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    50
    Looks great but moves like molasses, is more interesting than truly involving.
    Read full review
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