Fantastic film. Understated, atmospheric, and changing the setting from 1930's to 1960's worked surprisingly well. John Hurt and Helen Mirren were icing on the cake.

Disappointing remake.

Despite this being a classic story, beautifully photographed and thoughtfully styled, with great actors and acting this film lacked something. Maybe it was that the characters didn’t inspire empathy or the dating didn’t feel right - A modern interpretation of a 1930’s book set in the 1960’s.

not bad!

Disappointing. Adaptations are difficult to review, because while a film may pale in comparison to a book, it doesn't necessarily mean the film is bad on its own. That said, I think, by following the general flow of the book, creates certain expectations & loses the edge in the final minutes, tagging on an Ambersons-like ending that breaks the beautiful tension of the story in damaging ways. Greene may have written a similar ending for the original to avoid sensors, but here it utterly fails.

Gloomy thriller never really takes off, and is fatally crippled by an array of unlikable, poorly defined characters whose motives remain bafflingly cryptic. Compensations are fine performances (especially by that perpetual ray of light Mirren) and some nice directorial flourishes (the presentation of a key corpse, the violent climax and the very final scene) but otherwise its a tough slog through an unpleasant mess.

"Gutting what made Graham Greene's crime-lit classic unique, this pointless re-setting of the noirish fable fails to bring its puerile antihero to compelling life." - Bill Weber

The style is over-done but I liked it. Sam Riley is simply magnetic in this film; he has a very unique screen presence and he embodies his crooked character perfectly.