Nowhere to Hide (1999)

Critic Reviews

• Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

  This is flash in the service of nothing, the proverbial sow's ear doing an indifferent imitation of a silk purse.

• Elvis Mitchell, New York Times

  The film often churns with the pleasure that visual stimulation can provide and more affection for the bang-bang techniques than you're likely to see in the movies of music-video directors simply making the jump to the big screen.

• Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

  Reveals that in Lee Myung-Se Korea has a filmmaker with enough razzle-dazzle and visceral appeal to rival Hong Kong's -- and Hollywood's -- John Woo.

• Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com

  Lee can't tell a story to save his life, but he's something of a visual magician, laying out glittering piles of goodies that you instinctively want to follow.

• Steve Erickson, Chicago Reader

  Nowhere to Hide may not be devoid of substance, but beneath the virtuoso finish it's rotten to the core.

• Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena

  Myung-se usa o seu fiapo de roteiro para nos lembrar da velha máxima de que Cinema é, de fato, Imagem; e o resultado é um filme que contrasta os personagens falhos e incompetentes a um incrível virtuosismo visual e à trilha surpreendente.

• Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

  The shots may look cool, but their artiness prevents the film from building momentum.

• William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  The bottom line is that Lee's innovative but ultimately tedious and even ludicrous MTV-style visuals add absolutely nothing to the story dynamics.

• Keith H. Brown, Eye for Film

  Too often the film and its visuals feel [like] disconnected, self-indulgent set pieces.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  There's an exuberant, (post)modernity about the visuals -- the camera is never still and Lee's choice of angle is often inspired.

• Michael Thomson, BBC

  A skinny little mediocrity of a film, all dressed up with no place to go, except towards more violence.

• Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

  Of course, there's no real story here, unless you want to hear the one about the self-obsessed filmmaker who thought this project would be cool.

• Jaime N. Christley, Apollo Guide

  It is an over-stylized film that lacks, oddly enough, a sense of style.

Read all 13 critic reviews