64
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Village VoiceMelissa AndersonVillage VoiceMelissa AndersonCrucially, all four men, plus the ancillary characters who appear throughout the film, prove to be excellent company, holding forth on literature, Europe's future, inner-ear ailments, and side triceps.
- 75Slant MagazineSlant MagazineEven though the film takes on a more overtly fictive aesthetic after he's kidnapped, Michel Houellebecq's understated presence lends the proceedings a factual quality throughout.
- 75New York PostFarran Smith NehmeNew York PostFarran Smith NehmeThe film is hard on the eyes, having been shot in a low-budget style with the ubiquitous digital palette of gray-beige-taupe. Fortunately, it’s also hilarious, full of humor that is understated, wry and dependent on familiarity with interests as wide as Houellebecq’s own.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonThe Hollywood ReporterStephen DaltonAn inspired comic thriller.
- 70VarietyScott FoundasVarietyScott FoundasThis genuine curio gets surprising mileage from Houellebecq’s deft, self-effacing performance at the center of a lively comic ensemble.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisA divertingly eccentric, often comically absurd movie.
- 63RogerEbert.comGlenn KennyRogerEbert.comGlenn KennyThis is pretty much the opposite of a contemporary American comedy: rather than broad, The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq is an exemplary example of narrow.
- 60Time OutTime OutHere, absurdity is piled on absurdity for broadly comic effect: The kidnappers seem aimless, Houellebecq is fairly unbothered, and the world is, presumably, unmoved. Scrappy in style and surely improvised, the film is a lightweight literary in-joke, amusing enough.
- 50The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe character of Houellebecq implicitly understands that this is just a transaction, and doesn’t take it personally. It’s too bad that, like so much of the movie, this germ of satire is never developed past the point of premise.
- 50The DissolveNoel MurrayThe DissolveNoel MurrayAt first, the movie is offbeat enough to be entertaining anyway; but like the title character, it quickly outstays its welcome.