53
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawIt’s terrifically watchable, a high-octane automobile of a film with dodgy steering, but exciting in a world of dull and prissy hybrids.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe film positively swills in its disreputability and all-around low-budgetness; sporting a healthy disregard for respectability, Schrader has just gone for it here with a highly focused recklessness that he turns to his creative advantage.
- 67The Film StageGiovanni Marchini CamiaThe Film StageGiovanni Marchini CamiaLacking the earlier stylistic exuberance, Dog Eat Dog loses all momentum, taking forever to come to a conclusion both foregone and deeply dissatisfying.
- 67The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyAn exercise in gratuitousness that’s fitful by design, Paul Schrader’s Dog Eat Dog avoids any relationship between character psychology and visual style; they jab against each other, angrily vying for attention, as a nihilistic commentary on crime movies and genre stories.
- 50Screen DailyJonathan RomneyScreen DailyJonathan RomneyOne thing that can be said about brazen crime comedy Dog Eat Dog is that it’s a full-blooded venture in every respect, with Schrader and his leads Cage and Willem Dafoe clearly enjoying the gore-soaked frenzy. But the film also feels like a too- familiar reheating of in-your-face Tarantino-style crime tropes.
- 50We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoWe Got This CoveredMatt DonatoDog Eat Dog is all bark and no bite, playing around in a sandbox of vulgarity with little rhyme or reason.
- 42The PlaylistJessica KiangThe PlaylistJessica KiangEven within Schrader’s own back catalogue, Dog Eat Dog feels like a lukewarm retread of elements he has achieved, as a writer and director, much better before. It’s just that here they’re mashed together gracelessly, with a kind of bullying undercurrent, as though designed to get a rise out of you, just so it can deliver two for flinching.
- 40VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeThat’s not to say Dog Eat Dog is bereft of interesting choices. Far from it, though its infrequent bursts of gonzo brilliance are all in service of such an uninteresting premise.
- 38Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreCage and Dafoe never give less than their best, Cook is not bad, though the women aren’t allowed to make any impression at all, and Schrader’s acting just makes one wish he’d called in a favor and gotten a real actor to be The Greek.
- 38Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoPaul Schrader's film scrambles for contemporary relevance and finds only nihilistic hollowness.