Boarding Gate 2007

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: [Director] Assayas is out of his element here, and the encounters have no snap: It's like one of those two-character plays in which the frequent pauses are filled with the audience's coughing spasms. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Like just about everything in Boarding Gate, the finale suggests that its creators have been watching too many other movies with similar premises and payoffs. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Boarding Gate's surfaces are often so staggeringly beautiful that its superficiality becomes forgivable, with the pleasant distractions of Assayas' multi-layered frames, Argento's sinewy allure, and snippets of Brian Eno ambience on the soundtrack. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: The plot may be murky, but actress Asia Argento is a clear and commanding force throughout. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: This one is just murk. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The picture grows on you, as does its laconic leading lady, whose slurry delivery conceals an ever-alert mouse handily equipped to beat the cat at his own game. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: [Director Assayas] may have something serious to say about the brutal impersonality of global capitalism, yet he's caught somewhere between insight and exploitation. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A ridiculous poseur thriller that seems to be made up of the slow moments from Hong Kong action films and Euro-flashy stuff like Run Lola Run. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: Even an ultra-feral performance by Asia Argento -- the art house Angelina Jolie -- isn't enough to suffer through Boarding Gate, a draggy and incoherent thriller by French director Oliver Assayas. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: If this is the effect Mr. Assayas wanted to achieve, he has succeeded admirably. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: This hypnotic, angular thriller about sex, murder, betrayal and money takes you on a feverish journey from nowhere to somewhere. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: The main thing interesting about Boarding Gate is the spectacle of Assayas' effort -- the attitude and the international backdrop -- not the story itself. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: What it all means is up for grabs, but for connoisseurs of sadomasochistic nastiness, it's a must-see. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: Read more

Russell Edwards, Variety: Thrills and drama are left standing on the tarmac in Boarding Gate, a limp, sleazy inanity. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: There's basically only one reason to see Olivier Assayas's self-consciously hypermodern, meta-sleazy, English-French-Chinese-language globo-thriller Boarding Gate, and her name is Asia Argento. Read more