55
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasA lean, well-contained slice-of-life at 83 minutes, 'R Xmas finds the director making a confident return to the hard-nosed realism on which he's staked his maverick reputation.
- 80Los Angeles TimesManohla DargisLos Angeles TimesManohla DargisFew directors can put loneliness on screen as persuasively or capture the eerie quiet of people waiting for something, anything to happen. It's in moments such as these, when all sense of time disappears and all that remains are bodies in motion and Ken Kelsch's limpid cinematography, that you remember just how good Ferrara can be.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoIntroduces a new Ferrara -- sophisticated and restrained. It's a look that becomes him.
- 70L.A. WeeklyL.A. WeeklyR Xmas offers a poetic and profane ambiguity that's vintage Ferrara. The drug dealers are community leaders, the cops are corrupt, and the materialistic wife has unimagined emotional reserves.
- 60VarietyDavid RooneyVarietyDavid RooneyDespite some hazy plot points, the tough, compelling drama comes together quite satisfyingly, standing alongside 1996's "The Funeral" as perhaps the most controlled and cohesive of Ferrara's uneven work of recent years.
- 60Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanLike any self-respecting Ferrara film, 'R Xmas has its intimations of hellfire, yet it's a weirdly benign Christmas fable -- something like "Miracle on 134th Street."
- 60TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghCinematographer Ken Kelsch, Ferrara's frequent collaborator, picks up the theme of overlapping lives by layering images within scenes -- the ongoing interplay of reflections and shadows is breathtaking -- and through slow, shimmering dissolves.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe title refers to the commercialization of just about everything in modern society, and Ferrara brings touches of his ornery filmmaking imagination to bear on the pessimistic parable.
- 50New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDespite the intriguing potential, the end result is a queasy stalemate.
- 10The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenOnce Ice-T sticks his mug in the window of the couple's BMW and begins haranguing the wife in bad stage dialogue, all credibility flies out the window.