Deliverance 1972

Vincent Canby, New York Times: So many of Dickey's lumpy narrative ideas remain in his screenplay that John Boorman's screen version becomes a lot less interesting than it has any right to be. Read more

Don Druker, Chicago Reader: John Boorman's 1972 film of the James Dickey novel has a beautiful visual style that balances the film's machismo message. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: A fantasy about violence, not a realistic consideration of it. Read more

TIME Magazine: Each of the four lead performances is exceptional, none more so than Burt Reynolds' beefy, supercilious Lewis. Read more

Tom Milne, Time Out: It's a haunting, nightmarish vision. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: It's the stuff of which slapdash oaters and crime programmers are made but the obvious ambitions of Deliverance are supposed to be on a higher plane. Read more