Rick (2004)

46% of critics liked it
(24 reviews)
51% of users liked it
(771 ratings)

Rick is a rare feature that makes intelligent and exciting use of audience bewilderment. From its opening scenes, this quirky update of Verdi's Rigoletto thrusts viewers into a bizarre corporate culture in which mean-spiritedness, adolescent high jinks, and general dimwittedness are the norm, but… More Rick is a rare feature that makes intelligent and exciting use of audience bewilderment. From its opening scenes, this quirky update of Verdi's Rigoletto thrusts viewers into a bizarre corporate culture in which mean-spiritedness, adolescent high jinks, and general dimwittedness are the norm, but there is no explanation as to why. Yet it's impossible to turn away from the madness and decadence of scenes in which Bill Pullman's middle-aged executive, Rick, engages in monstrous behavior toward subordinates or exchanges in fraternal obscenities with his young, clueless boss, Duke (Aaron Stanford), who is routinely enjoying anonymous, online sex with Rick's daughter, Eve (Agnes Bruckner). Screenwriter Daniel Handler, better known to the world as author Lemony Snicket, and director Curtiss Clayton slowly introduce enough background to unlock the central tragedy in this tale, and lead everyone to a shared, startling destiny. Cinematographer Lisa Rinzler (Pollock) sets everything against a fantastic cityscape and voyeuristic hell. --Tom Keogh

Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 33 min.
Directed By: Curtiss Clayton
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Sep 24, 2004 Wide
On DVD: Nov 9, 2004
Studio: ContentFilm

Critic Reviews

Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
By hewing so faithfully to their source, the creators don't let the material pursue its own direction, and the result feels dramatically arbitrary.
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
An ill-advised combination of tragedy and satire, it generally plays like the coffee-break fantasy of a temp who messed up a lunch order and paid for it with his dignity.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Everything about this curio is claustrophobic.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
It's rotten to the core and right down to the end. But if you find that such extremes can be fascinating, then the movie may cheer you, not because it is happy, but because it goes for broke.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Daniel Handler's script has snap, crackle and pop (he's the author of the popular Lemony Snicket children's books), and Curtiss Clayton's direction is darkly crisp.
Stephen Holden, New York Times
In this tale of karmic payback, a humiliated job applicant lays a curse on a corporate snake that leads quickly to ruin.
Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Julgando que ambientar Rigoletto nos dias atuais é o bastante para ser aplaudido, o filme erra nos diálogos e no tom da narrativa, tornando-se insípido e descartável.
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
Very funny, very dark and very clever -- a tale of the corporate id gone wild that promises to upset even the most jaded and hardened of sensibilities.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
Wcreenwriter Daniel Handler [(a.k.a. Lemony Snicket)] employs an O. Henry-like twist of irony that first-time director Curtiss Clayton telegraphs long before it strikes.
Rob Blackwelder, SPLICEDWire
Manages to be both disquieting and entertaining -- and that's quite a cunning feat of cinema.
Sheri Linden, Boxoffice Magazine
The intended black comedy is no more than a wan mix of over-the-top unpleasantness and obvious psychologizing.
Paul Sherman, Boston Herald
Sometimes it's hard to hear the dialogue because the gears of the plot are trying so hard and creaking so loudly.
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
A tragic story graced with lots of comedic touches, which makes for an often awkward tone.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
A new mythology with new morals for a rough, uncertain age.
Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times
[The] story and emotions seem a little too big for the frame.
Erik Childress, eFilmCritic.com
Rick is dark, dark comedy at its most hedonistic.
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
Impressive -- and utterly depressing -- feature debut.
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher
[M]alicious, ironic cruelty dealt with a deft and subtle hand...
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
A deliciously bitter tale of lust and betrayal among dog-eat-dog Wall Street bigwigs.