Dirty Pretty Things: Critic Reviews

100%

MovieWeb: 1 reviews

94%

RottenTomatoes: 143 reviews

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Lisa Schwarzbaum Entertainment Weekly (Top Critic)

42

Things is jammed with banner-ready political rhetoric, and the relentlessness of the lectures is wearying.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Elvis Mitchell New York Times (Top Critic)

80

A swift, tangy drama.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Peter Bradshaw Guardian [UK] (Top Critic)

80

A film with marvellous delicacy, humanity and charm.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Mike Clark USA Today (Top Critic)

63

It is dirtier than pretty, yet Frears finds beauty in the telling.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Desson Thomson Washington Post (Top Critic)

A unique gem.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Stephen Hunter Washington Post (Top Critic)

It offers as its hero an extraordinary fellow: He's an authentic moral being who, though the universe has gone all twisty-crazy into greed, mendacity and manipulation, nevertheless clings to his own code.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Ty Burr Boston Globe (Top Critic)

75

If you go with the film -- and I did -- it will be because the quiet empathy of the central performances carries you over the plot holes.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jessica Winter Village Voice (Top Critic)

The Hollywood-formula framework is built on a decidedly un-Hollywood foundation in terms of subject matter, worldview, and plausible casting.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jack Mathews New York Daily News (Top Critic)

63

[Frears] can't keep his eye on the ball.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Eric Harrison Houston Chronicle (Top Critic)

92

This is a sordid story but ultimately not a depressing one.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jane Sumner Dallas Morning News (Top Critic)

75

[Frears'] finest, most polished, provocative work in a decade.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Vic Vogler Denver Post (Top Critic)

100

Few movies create such perfect pitch among character, plot and setting.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times (Top Critic)

88

Frears and his writer, Steve Knight, use the power of the thriller and avoid the weaknesses in giving us, really, two movies for the price of one.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune (Top Critic)

88

A suspense movie that works bracingly well as a genre thriller while also offering gems of social portraiture and a lacerating expose of current conditions among illegal London aliens.
Full Review » 9 years ago
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader (Top Critic)

An impressive mix of entertainment and social comment, spinning a great mystery even as it confronts an ugly world.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer (Top Critic)

88

As remarkably moving as Ejiofor's redemptive performance.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jeff Strickler Minneapolis Star Tribune (Top Critic)

75

Ejiofor, a veteran British stage actor, is well cast.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Tom Long Detroit News (Top Critic)

67

It ponders human worth, physical and emotional, with a mix of outrage and tenderness that's hard to fault.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Bill Muller Arizona Republic (Top Critic)

60

Although the film delves into an interesting topic -- black marketeers trading in human flesh -- the approach is far too clinical.
Full Review » 9 years ago
David Stratton Variety (Top Critic)

An intelligent and extremely well-made romantic drama that tells an intriguing story with economy and insight.
Full Review » 5 years ago
Megan Lehmann New York Post (Top Critic)

75

Thank you, Britain, for sending us another smart alternative to the big, dumb and noisy stink bombs that have polluted the summer movie schedule so far.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel (Top Critic)

80

This is the sort of film that requires your full attention -- and then amply rewards it with a wealth of nuances.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Peter Howell Toronto Star (Top Critic)

80

The acting is superb in Dirty Pretty Things, especially Ejiofor as the embattled Okwe and Tautou as the exploited Senay.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Liam Lacey Globe and Mail (Top Critic)

75

A classic piece of Frears's fine carpentry.
Full Review » 9 years ago
Andrew O'Hehir Salon.com (Top Critic)

Frears' vision of London's invisible work force is never less than captivating and warmly sympathetic, and Ejiofor's performance is a portrait of exhausted dignity that will stick with you for years.
Full Review » 9 years ago