Rhinoceros Eyes: Critic Reviews

Most of this weird-for-weird's-sake film is set inside a cluttered store for movie props where a pathologically shy young clerk (Michael Pitt) lives and works.

A parable on cine-enchantment that itself fails to enchant.

A thriller that shamelessly rummages through other movies in search of shocks.

A disturbing movie with new talents to watch ...

... I've come to appreciate the comic side of it.

For too much of the film's running time, quirkiness stands in for genuine wit, and the screenplay is most notable for its derivativeness.

Has its own peculiar sensibility, a sort of magical grotesqueness. . . . It's too bad that Woodley doesn't push his themes and ideas further, blurring reality and dream more profoundly.

Part comedy, part horror and part stream-of-consciousness, the low-budget film betrays influences ranging from retro-maven Guy Maddin to Woodley's own uncle David Cronenberg, all held together by Woodley's own unique spark.

What about those fundamentals of engagement that keep filmgoers in their seats?

Reeks of film-school, 'Donnie Darko'-inspired weirdness. It's the sort of movie that would be pretentious if it were smart enough to figure out how.

Smacks of upscale student work with a command of atmospherics but a script mixed in a blender of concept doodles.

As weird and off-putting as portions of the film are, the most serious problem is Pitt's performance.

Utterly wrongheaded and indistinctly creepy, in that yawn-inducing way of pretentious twaddle...

A movie that doesn't always work but certainly earns high marks for weirdness.

Quirkiness alone can't substitute for a compelling story line, interesting themes or real characters.

Michael Pitt, the baby-faced actor who recently played a more sophisticated cinephile in Bertolucci's "The Dreamers," holds the film together just by being himself.

The surprise is how utterly original [Woodley's] gorgeously mounted curiosity seems.

A film about a guy with a fantasy life so rich it could make Walter Mitty envious.

A film rich in depth and texture, "Rhinoceros Eyes" should give avid cineastes a pleasurable time at the theatre.

What is the film in the end but a string of mediocre, sometimes humorous non sequitors?

A lovely, dark fairy tale told in unembarrassed allegory with verve and intelligence.

Von Trotta's look at the women's standoff is fascinating for its hints of feminism, and a radiant performance by Katja Riemann as a woman whose compassion is her only weapon.