Ace in the Hole (re-release)

EMAIL PRINTTwo Boots Pioneer Theater

9.2 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 6 critic reviews
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Based on 5 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Walter Newman
Lesser Samuels
Billy Wilder

Directed by: Billy Wilder

Release Date:
Theatrical: September 4, 2002

Running Time: 111 minutes, B/W

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Kirk Douglas, Jan Sterling, Robert Arthur, Porter Hall, Frank Cady, and Richard Benedict

Billy Wilder's 1951 portrait of a corrupt media circus in which a down-on-his-luck NYC reporter (Douglas) takes a job with a small-town paper that provides him with no challenges until he exploits the story of a man trapped in a mine. (Two Boots Pioneer Theater)

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Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

TV Guide Staff (Not credited)

A searing example of writer-director Billy Wilder at his most brilliantly misanthropic. An uncompromising portrait of human nature at its worst, the film was so far ahead of its time in its depiction of a media circus and the public's appetite for tragedy that it was a commercial disaster when first released, but now stands as one of the great American films of the 1950s.

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100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

It's dark, funny, ferocious, and vintage Wilder all the way.

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Variety Staff (Not credited)

Billy Wilder's direction captures the feel of morbid expectancy that always comes out in the curious that flock to scenes of tragedy.

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The New York Times A.O. Scott

Ace in the Hole is an acquired taste -- and an unforgettable one.

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Village Voice J. Hoberman

Ace in the Hole is a movie about the fascination of disaster that is itself a fascinating disaster.

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Film Threat Phil Hall

So ham-handed and relentlessly overbaked that it is easy to see why audiences initially stayed away from it. Just when and how did anyone come to see this as a classic?

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Gilbert Mulroneycakes In: "Curse Of The Red Iguana!" gave it a 10:
Billy Wilder knew how to end a film. Even if it had nothing else going for it, Ace In The Hole would be worth sitting through just for the immense closing scene and final image. It'll stay with you. But it's irrelevant anyway, because Ace In The Hole (or "The Big Carnival", to give it its real, and rather more stupid, title - Wilder renamed it posthmously a while later) is still a brilliant movie: alternating between funny and horrible until finally settling on the latter quite late in the day. You'll never get that song out of your head, but by the end of the film, you will want to. Not as good as Some Like It Hot or Double Indemnity, but that's like criticising "After Hours" because it isn't Marty's best film. Highly reccomended.