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Ninth Gate, The
EMAILPRINTArtisan Entertainment

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 20 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller
Written by:
Roman Polanski
John Brownjohn
Arturo Perez-Riverte (novel The Club Dumas)
Enrique Urbizu
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 10, 2000
DVD: July 18, 2000
Running Time: 133 minutes, Color
Origin: France / Spain / USA
Summary
RATING: R for some violence and sexuality
Starring Johnny Depp, Frank Langella, and Lena Olin
A rare book dealer (Depp) seeking out the last two copies of a demon text discovers a strange demonic conspiracy.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Chinatown Death and the Maiden Oliver Twist Repulsion The Pianist The Tenant
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
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...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Polanski's directing is marvelously assured and Depp is always fun to watch.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
Amusing, ultra-deadpan entertainment. The director was lucky enough to have a cast who were in on the joke and tuned in to his wavelength.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
The movie falls apart toward the end as it enters "Eyes Wide Shut" territory, but until then, it's fun to see bookworms cast in the James Bond mode.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Gary Thompson
Begins to take on a striking resemblance to the infamously bad "Eyes Wide Shut."
Read Full Review >TNT RoughCut Don Kaye
Fairly enjoyable as an old-fashioned horror yarn -- or, if that doesn't work for you, as a black comedy about an obsessive collector.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A devilish little comedy whose urbane, satirical humor will probably sail right over the heads of audiences weaned on Scream.
Read Full Review >Film.com Peter Brunette
Compulsively watchable and its occasional lapses into that familiar Polanskian overkill are almost charming.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
So visually striking, so compulsively watchable as storytelling, and so personal even in its enigmas that I found it much more pleasurable than any of the Hollywood genre films I've seen lately.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
Exotic Ninth Gate breaks down into clichés.
Read Full Review >Newsweek Andrea C. Basora
As long as Polanski keeps his focus on character and ambiance, the film is an eerie pleasure. But he doesn't, and it degenerates into a second-rate chase movie which takes its supernatural overtones either too seriously or too lightly to be convincing.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Wesley Morris
Right up to its deliberate thud of a closer, Polanski had me.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham
Summoning silliness Roman Polanski salutes and spoofs satanic thrillers .
Read Full Review >USA Today Mike Clark
The script is so bereft of real surprises that it's best to keep the lid on what few there are.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
After a cheeky, campy start, The Ninth Gate leaves you with a bitter and dull aftertaste.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
Lacking noticeable energy or drive, its almost visceral distaste for dramatic momentum is puzzling, especially in a film about the black arts.
Read Full Review >Variety Lisa Nesselson
This is really a shaggy devil story whose giddy, ironic tone may throw viewers expecting a scary movie.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This tale may well weave a more compelling spell on the page; onscreen it's simply ponderous.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
Euro-kitsch of the highest order, which doesn't mean it's necessarily bad, just unnecessary.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
The whole thing seems to meander aimlessly, rarely creating a chill.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
About as scary as a sock-puppet re-enactment of "The Blair Witch Project," and not nearly as funny.
Read Full Review >New York Post Jonathan Foreman
A non-thrilling occult thrillersolame and unoriginal that it would be an embarrassment for any director, much less a talent like Roman Polanski.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach
A film that really has no idea what it wants to be, so it tries a little of everything, and does nothing very well.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
A film not even a star as foxed and foxy as Johnny Depp himself could save.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Russell Smith
Most of the actors seem to have been issued one facial expression at the beginning of the film, along with pain-of-death instructions not to change it under any circumstance.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Jay Carr
A supernatural thriller that is neither super, natural, nor thrilling.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
Polanski, generally, has fallen farther than Lucifer, and into a more profoundly depressing hell, the hell of utter banality.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 20 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
sujana will gave it a9:
The 1st portion was COOL but later part is really bad but depp is excellent.
telmo o. gave it a10:
Special, unforgettable, surrealist, explendid.
raVen gave it an 8:
[***PLOT REVELATIONS***] (7.5) I loved 99% of this movie...The atmosphere...the building and darkening suspense...the double take of realizing Lena Olin doesn't use stairs...Depp is pricelessly Depp. But what he doesn't know, poor Johnny, is that instead of looking for the lost copies of an ancient book, he should have been looking for the last pages of the screenplay. Because when the ending finally comes, it doesn't.
Aaron J. gave it a 10:
Excellent movie. Great mysticism etc.
Vincent F. gave it a 9:
The movie is slow paced yet never boring. The open ending is the only suitable ending for this movie.
Spencer G. gave it a 10:
A movie for the intellectuals.
Keanes L. gave it a 10:
This was a wonderful movie. I loved it. You can't go wrong with Johnny Depp.
