The 51st State

Ronny Yu doesn’t know how to work with the detached humor and cynicism that are needed here. The scene in which Samuel L. Jackson throws pills at dancers in a discotheque absolutely kills the film. The characters are slacker assholes who aren’t the slightest bit cool. And the director wants us to sympathize with them. There are a lot of jokes, but most of them fall flat. Just getting them out of an actor’s mouth is not enough. The film has dynamics but, without humor and sympathy for the characters, they only accelerate the flow of boredom. (10/12/2003)

The inevitable conflict that arises from the mutual confrontation of an American and a Brit is a perfect basis for the film's main theme. The script, as in similar films, is not the most important thing. All responsibility is placed on the shoulders of the director and the actors. Unlike the cumbersome crossover Freddy vs. Jason, director Ronny Yu took a much more relaxed approach to the film. Jokes on the theme mentioned at the beginning abound. Only a few of those moments, which Yu crowned with a punchline, were many times more entertaining than the entire previous content. Unfortunately, this brings the film down to an average level, despite the likable plot and great performances from the actors (Samuel L. Jackson, along with his naked backside, is defeated by Robert Carlyle's non-stop barrage of insults). However, the mental emptiness and the waste of the potential of the story will rather frustrate than sadden. (06/10/2005)

Take Pulp Fiction and Snatch, shake, not stir, and pour into a Liverpool glass and this is the outcome. It’s nothing special, but, as entertainment, it’s enough. SLJ is super, and RC no less than divine. The trouble with the fucking Yanks is, they have no fucking sense. (10/23/2010)

I was greatly entertained. Robert Carlyle's performance was excellent and his great English accent kicked the film up a notch. I’m not saying that the film didn’t have its flaws, but I could see past them. (05/07/2020)