Critic Reviews
57
Metascore
Mixed or Average
positive
13(62%)
mixed
6(29%)
negative
2(10%)
Showing 21 Critic Reviews
80
Hardly a barrel of laughs then, but this slowburn tale sears its way onto the synapses and then flat refuses to budge.
78
Flesh and Bone is far from a comfortable experience to witness, so if you like your films “over easy” this will not be to your liking. But if you like entertainment that cuts to the marrow, then Flesh and Bone is something to see.
75
Flesh and Bone is all suspenseful buildup without shoot-outs, chases, and explosions, and its conclusion doesn't demand a neatly-packaged resolution. More importantly, it's one of the few successful '40s-type noir thrillers to grace the big screen in recent years.
75
Few directors lavish as much tenderness upon life's bruised survivors as Kloves does, and many a more prominent director has failed to find in the dust-choked West Texas plains the wistfulness with which Quaid and Ryan fill their most solid and shtick-free work yet. [05 Nov 1993, p.42]
75
Although his plot is subtly contrived, Kloves stays true to his characters by daring to evolve Flesh and Bone into a genuine tragedy (i.e. a downer) resembling the brooding early-1970s dramas that defied commercial convention. [05 Nov 1993, p.D3]
75
The acting is terrific, understated and pungent, especially Quaid's and Ryan's performances. [05 Nov 1993, p.I]
75
On the whole, Flesh and Bone is effectively clean and mean. [05 Nov 1993, p.10E]
75
Quaid's return to form is worth cheering. He helps make Flesh a watchable depressant. [05 Nov 1993, p.4D]
70
Although the plot comes to rely on a particularly outlandish series of coincidences, it’s a credit to Kloves’s skill that you can almost put this out of your mind and enjoy his long, suspended scenes, brimming with lust or the need to lash out.
70
Most of what keeps Flesh and Bone so gripping is the ways in which the characters themselves evolve.
