8 1/2 Women

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This visually intricate fantasia combines his (Greenaway's) extraordinary cinematic imagination with a story and characters less compelling than those in his best works.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Never dull visually, but it's certainly monomaniacal and heartless thematically.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

One possible approach to 8 1/2 Women, I think, is to view it as a slowed-down, mannered, tongue-in-cheek silent comedy, skewed by Greenaway's anger and desire to manipulate.

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

A surreal comedy about sex that comes as close to charming as Greenaway ever gets.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

It may be his (Greenaway's) breeziest and kindest-hearted effort to date.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Seethes with cruel lust and brainy fancy.

Miami Herald Marta Barber

With its convoluted pretentiousness, heavy use of metaphors and obscure references to art, fails to maintain interest.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

The problem with 8 1/2 Women isn't that what you see is what you get; it's that what you see is all you get.

LA Weekly F. X. Feeney

As powerfully as the film lingers in the mind, one can't help wishing he were led just a bit more by his heart.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Some viewers may find this movie sexist or misogynist simply based on its premise, but it's a mistake to take Greenaway's symbolic narratives too literally.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A nod to Fellini--and that "half" turns out to be a typically dark Greenaway twist. Yet this film, one of Greenaway's most amusing and accessible, actually arrives at moments of tenderness, even love, fleeting though they may be.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Keeps teasing you with intimations of the libidinous animal within.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Though his film is breathtakingly art-directed, Greenaway wallows in epater le bourgeois nastiness -- his inner naughty child could use a good paddling.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Its message is quite simple and all too familiar: when it comes to sex, all men are little boys.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

(Greenaway) is often described as a director whose movies "are not for everyone." The obvious retort is that neither are the Three Stooges, but at least everyone understands them.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Greenaway's film is about making people's jaws drop.

San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson

It's downright boring.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

8 1/2 Women is a collage-y, self-reflexive sort of film that is designed to shock but more often just annoys.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Intentionally defies categorization and explication.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

Writer-director Peter Greenaway never uses narrative lightly...references to the act of filmmaking exhaust their impact pretty quickly.

Film.com Henry Cabot Beck

This anti-narrative screwball comedy, a sort of police-drama re-enactment of Fellini's themes in "8 1/2," keeps most of the jokes off-screen.

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

Greenaway has hit a brick wall, and it's no fun to watch.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

More prettily photographed pretentious rubbish from the ridiculous Peter Greenaway.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

The deeply ridiculous 8 1/2 Women could have been made only by a cranky dotard.

TNT RoughCut Andy Klein

Inert, unfunny, and not even interesting as a dirty movie, 8 1/2 Women could well rank as one of the worst films of the year.