70
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Los Angeles TimesInkoo KangLos Angeles TimesInkoo KangThe film is as heartbreaking as it is heart-stopping.
- 80The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisThe New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisEven at its most incomprehensible, the propulsive thriller On the Job is never less than arresting.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleSan Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleA sturdy and sophisticated crime drama from the Philippines that takes a pretty gruesome situation and enriches its presentation with lots of human detail.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyOn the Job feels marinated in hardscrabble reality. Action scenes throughout are unnervingly frenetic, with the tension amplified by the sheer density of the crowds.
- 70Village VoicePete Vonder HaarVillage VoicePete Vonder HaarMatti sets a brisk pace, utilizing the squalor and desperation of Manila's slums and prisons as well as powerful, against-type performances by Torre and Pascual to give us a familiar yet engaging thriller (with more than a few surprises).
- 70The DissolveScott TobiasThe DissolveScott TobiasMatti’s primary order of business is regularly serving up tense, stylish action sequences, and he proves more adept choreographing those than sorting out the convolutions of his parallel plotlines.
- Matti and Yamamoto aren't reinventing any wheels here, and many of the dialogue scenes operate on a functionally prosaic level. On the Job takes off into a different stratosphere, however, when the emphasis is on visuals and movement.
- 67The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyIt’s a provocative premise, and one that manages to go beyond the usual themes of the crime genre. Too bad, then, it’s forced to share screen time with a humdrum and occasionally heavy-handed police procedural.
- 63Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerSlant MagazineAndrew SchenkerA nose-to-the-ground crime thriller that also doubles as a wide-ranging portrait of official corruption in the Philippines, On the Job has little trouble delivering the genre goods.