57
Metascore
28 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThough it's a stylistic change from what Zhang's been up to lately, this isn't entirely new territory for him.
- 80Time OutKeith UhlichTime OutKeith UhlichTaken on its own fun-over-philosophy terms, this is an exercise in tone-shifting virtuosity.
- 70MovielineMichelle OrangeMovielineMichelle OrangeIn its most tiresome moments, Noodle Shop overestimates the wit of its formal exertions, and feels less like a film than an exercise that will leave fans of the original comparatively cold.
- 70Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyLos Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyThe result of Zhang's experimental theater will be a rich brew for some, weak tea for others - a divide that will largely depend on your taste for a blend that is lighter on the subtext and heavier on the slapstick.
- 60VarietyDerek ElleyVarietyDerek ElleyWestern audiences familiar with "Blood Simple" will get a kick out of the reinventions.
- 60NPRMark JenkinsNPRMark JenkinsAs "Blood Simple" fans should expect, Noodle Shop is a comedy of presumed deaths and unexpected revivals, with some victims flat out refusing to stay in their shallow graves.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterZhang Yimou's remake of the Coen brothers' "Blood Simple" as a Chinese period thriller-farce in a desert setting. A high-rolling but garish production with untranslatable regional ribald humor, it is aimed squarely at the China market.
- 50Village VoiceNick PinkertonVillage VoiceNick PinkertonThose with a higher tolerance for bumptious jestering-from a yipping and mincing Xiao, or Cheng Ye as a bucktoothed jelly-belly-may, however, cry Masterpiece. They are instructed to seek out the longer Chinese cut, which apparently packs in more such interminable shtick, broad as the Yangtze.
- 50Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversSome may enjoy the slapstick, which plays like "Harold & Kumar Go to Old Peking," but this bloodless Coen crib job is simply not my cup of noodles.
- 25Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanI wish I could say that the film is half as intriguing as it sounds, but A Woman, a Gun... lacks the Coen brothers' precision, their diabolical game-board cleverness. It's a remake in shaggy outline only.