Quid Pro Quo: Critic Reviews

Quid Pro Quo hovers in a noir-shaded twilight zone where repressed memories and guilt merge in an obsession with physical and emotional paralysis.

Farmiga is captivating, Stahl less so -- although a bigger problem is writer/director Carlos Brooks's script, which sets up one story, then shifts gears into something more personal and psychologically specific.

While a good director can spin a worthy movie from any subject, first-timer Carlos Brooks does surprisingly little with the jaw-dropper of a topic he chose.

The first half of Quid Pro Quo is among the most jaw-dropping things I've ever seen: Who knew there was a closeted subculture of people pretending to be paraplegics?

It certainly won't be everyone's cup of breakfast bitters, but you can't dismiss it nonchalantly.

Quid Pro Quo is a respectable feature-film debut for Mr. Brooks, and it remains reasonably thought-provoking without ever becoming emotionally absorbing.

An exceedingly odd meeting of the minds (and bodies) occurs in Quid Pro Quo, a strikingly original and provocative first feature from scribe-helmer Carlos Brooks.

This warped masochistic cousin to David Cronenberg's Crash - not to be confused with the Oscar winner of the same name -- is well worth seeing for Farmiga's stunning performance.

In fact, "Quid Pro Quo" is not at all funny, merely occasionally sarcastic, its plot a succession of half-baked pop-psych speculations and its dialogue a glib sampling of sub-Diablo Cody incredibility

The movie exerts a certain appeal without ever being convincing.

Brooks tiptoes into territory Luis Bunuel would have frolicked in, but he does so without the master surrealist's desire to outrage and confound his viewers.

Its biggest mystery is how it was financed (by Texas trillionaire and Dallas Maverick owner Mark Cuban, no less) and selected for distribution.

Strikingly original and spectacularly twisted, Quid Pro Quo is a gem. Two outstanding performances from Nick Stahl and Vera Farmiga provide riveting viewing

has the best "middle" I've seen in a long time

By far the movie's strong suit is Farmiga, who gives an astonishingly layered performance,

Very deftly made, with some lovely cinematography and two quirky, engaging lead performances, it's a satisfying debut.

An outsider adventure strictly for the very open-minded, presenting the numbness of paralysis, ironically, as a potential source of paroxysms of pleasure.

An obscure and terrifying mental disorder leads a reporter to the strangest and then the most terrifying story of his life. A neat film noir in a very modern setting amongst people who are not all there.

If you were a fan of David Cronenberg's Crash, you might just be the target audience for Quid Pro Quo, a perverse psychological drama about able-bodied people who yearn to become disabled.

This odd little fugue of a movie would be implausible, even laughable, if it weren't also marvelously played, visually composed and plotted with the utmost cunning.

I wanted Quid Pro Quo to develop into something at every turn, but it just never gels. It's a great 20-page short story that can't sustain 82 minutes of life on the big screen.

Brooks has no idea how to pace his irritatingly giddy script, and the film feels overlong at 82 minutes.

The film is lightest on its feet when it shakes off the Red Shoe Diaries foreboding for moments of sly irony

It frustratingly refuses to go bonkers, but the film is a compelling sit, brought to life by two very crafty, pointed performances.

Might work if it was really about what it's really about, but its too-tricky script has too many paths that lead nowhere.