You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: September 22, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
12
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin Wilson
Allen has been criticized for leaving some of the plot lines up in the air and several characters in the lurch. But he seems to be making a point: Neat Hollywood endings are as phony and dangerous as Cristal's ramblings. Read full review
80
Time OutKeith Uhlich
It isn't the first time death has figured in an Allen movie, but the way he grapples with it here (leaving each character at a moment of irresolution comparable to staring down the man with the scythe) is much more potent and direct. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
There are enough pleasantries and good jests in this new film to make a meal. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It offers the small delight of watching a master step back from more ardent work to put together a diverting miniature. And in the scheme of things, that's actually more of an accomplishment than it might sound. Minor Mozart, after all, is still pretty darned good. Read full review
75
MovielineMichelle Orange
Minor but still quite enjoyable. And like other minor Woody Allen pictures it becomes more interesting when placed in their larger context. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazinePete Hammond
Bottom line: It's a good one, fresh, funny and vintage Woody. Read full review
70
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Much of the writing is good, and the acting is superb, but the constant wrangling wore me out at times. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Good and very pleasurable provided you know what you're getting into, which is a comic roundelay of amorous ambitions and delusions-punctuated by wistful old ballads like "If I Had You"-that lead mostly but not entirely to disaster. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesBetsy Sharkey
This kinder, gentler Allen is still clever, still amusing, and the film itself is a confection tempting enough to consider a taste. Yet there is that empty-calorie letdown after it's over. Maybe it's time to book another trip to Spain. Read full review
65
NPRBob Mondello
Hardly a laff riot, but then that's been true of Allen's movies for a while. It is, however, briskly cynical about human nature, graciously forgiving about human foibles, and situationally amusing about the spectacles otherwise sane people make of themselves when they trust their fates to the stars. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Has an empty, soulless feel. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The movie is forgiving. But the search for happiness is doomed by definition: You must be happy with what you have, not with what you desire, because the cost of the quest is too high. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill Goodykoontz
Although there are moments of humor in the film, many of them supplied by the delightful Jones, there are also long stretches of, um . . . "blah" might be the best word for it. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The best scenes are hilarious sessions between the great Gemma Jones and the wonderful Pauline Collins as a charlatan fortune-teller. Read full review
50
Village VoiceElla Taylor
That You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is not more dull is due in large part to the adorably flamboyant Punch (late of Dinner for Schmucks and Hot Fuzz). Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Shopworn to the bone. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
It's a meandering and rather aimless movie that would be considered trite if made by another filmmaker, and yet it has such a family resemblance to other, better Woody Allen movies that it's easy to stick with it and enjoy it. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The movie ends just when complications start to set in, which makes you wonder how invested Allen really is in the little melodramas within this comedy. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin Chang
Fitfully amusing and nearly saved by its distinguished cast. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Slight and only sporadically amusing. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Three words: Late Woody Allen. In the autumn of his career, toiling exclusively in Europe, Woody is like an aging cabinet maker still blessed with craft but grown erratic in design. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
The talented cast fails to gel into a dynamic ensemble. Read full review
50
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
For the most part, everyone struggles through, with at best mixed success. The audience included. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Like the worst of late-period Allen, the film recycles character types from his previous work without inventing new reasons to summon them into existence. They're left stranded, seven characters in search of an author. Read full review
38
Orlando SentinelRoger Moore
A mirthless, joyless comedy with nary a hint of romance, mystery or justification for its existence. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
It's a highbrow romantic farce, without the laughs. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
The paltry theme is that we can't predict the future, but I spent part of the time calculating how many more feeble movies Allen will make, based on his productivity rate (one per year), his batting average (four duds for every success), his current age (74), and his father's longevity (Martin Konigsberg lived to be 100). Are you ready for 20 more remakes of "Manhattan"? Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleKimberley Jones
In practice, and played as farce, the characters are one-dimensional cutouts kept at a dogged remove. Their miseries are a bore – maybe to Allen, too, who abruptly ends the film, after so much inaction, when it finally catches some dramatic traction. Read full review
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