El Ardor 2014

Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times: By the time we reached the climactic and fantastically over-the-top showdown, I realized that while the characters were indeed trying to corner the market on smoldering glances, faux-Shakespearean proclamations and in-your-face symbolism. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: After a while ... the sheer brutality and uncomplicated menace of the thugs is wearying. Read more

Peter Debruge, Variety: The spirit of Sergio Leone hovers above Argentine director Pablo Fendrik's Ardor, a spooky south-of-the-equator oater -- or "machete Western," if you will -- that trades open desert horizons for dense jungle backdrops. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Unfortunately the movie loses this supernatural vibe in the second half, settling into a rather literal-minded revenge tale, though like much Argentinian art cinema it makes effective and poetic use of the natural settings. Read more

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter: The reverential film takes itself far too seriously; it ends up being neither sufficiently inventive nor revisionist to surmount its archetypal cliches. Read more

Michael Rechtshaffen, Los Angeles Times: A densely atmospheric, Sergio Leone-steeped western that ultimately proves too reverential for its own good. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Here is a movie that ends with a can't-miss scenario - a siege on a farmhouse in which the heroes are vastly outnumbered and outgunned - yet still fails to ever quicken your pulse. Read more

Katherine Pushkar, New York Daily News: Writer-director Pablo Fendrik may well have been shooting here for "Pale Rider." But "Ardor" is more like pale imitation. Read more

Daniel M. Gold, New York Times: "Ardor" lacks tension, maybe because the actors are playing archetypes: Little is said, and there are few surprises. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Much of this movie is bewilderingly slow, while the big action scenes are mostly unbelievable. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: Sergio Leone meets 'Sounds of the Rainforest' in this wafting new-age western. Read more

Simon Abrams, Village Voice: Too bad that Ardor's arrhythmic editing and glacial pacing make it impossible to get lost in its jungles - or to invest in its pseudo-mystical ambiance. Read more