90
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago ReaderChicago ReaderA masterpiece, one of Michelangelo Antonioni's finest works. (Review of Original Release)
- 100TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineVisually stunning adventure. (Review of Original Release)
- 100Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerThe film's final seven-minute shot is one of the great denouements in film history.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanThe Passenger isn't finally the masterpiece some have made it out to be, but it retains a singular intrigue: It's the first, and probably the last, thriller ever made about depression.
- 90The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyNo other performer (Jack Nicholson) in an Antonioni film, except Jeanne Moreau in "La Notte," has so gracefully submitted to Mr. Antonioni and survived intact. (Review of Original Release)
- 88Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertIntended as a thriller of sorts, although Antonioni is, as always, too deeply involved in the angst of his characters to bother much with the story. (Review of Original Release)
- 88Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversThe script, co-written by Antonioni and Peter Wollen, focuses on a TV journalist (a superb Jack Nicholson).
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanThe Passenger is a relic of that moment in international co-production when famous European auteurs hitched their wagons to hip and eager Hollywood stars.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirIn casting Jack Nicholson as the jaded Anglo-American journalist who abandons his previous life during a trip to Africa and adopts a dangerous new identity, Antonioni was working with a more powerful and charismatic actor than he has before or since. The result is something like a glamorous thriller or a disaster film in slow motion.