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Movies / On DVD / Heartbeat Detector
Heartbeat Detector

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Heartbeat Detector (2008)

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Reviews Counted:25

Fresh:19

Rotten:6

Average Rating:6.5/10

Consensus: Gripping and provocative psychological thriller about corporate responsibility remains tense throughout and despite its long running time.

Rated: 12A

Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins

Genre: Theatrical Release

Theatrical Release:16-05-2008

Synopsis: This corporate thriller from France follows company psychologist Simon Kessler (Mathieu Amalric, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) who is assigned with investigating a CEO who executives fear is... This corporate thriller from France follows company psychologist Simon Kessler (Mathieu Amalric, THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY) who is assigned with investigating a CEO who executives fear is growing mentally unstable. While Kessler tries to get close to his subject, the CEO turns the tables on his interlocutor, revealing devastating company secrets that throw Kessler's life into turmoil. The mysteries only deepen as murder and blackmail are thrown into this dark mix. [More]

Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel

Starring: Mathieu Amalric, Michael Lonsdale, Jean-Pierre Kalfon, Lou Castel, Laetitia Spigarelli, Valerie Dreville, Delphine Chuillot, Edith Scob

Director: Nicolas Klotz

Director: Nicolas Klotz
Producer: Sophie Dulac, Michel Zana
Composer: Syd Matters
Studio: New Yorker Films

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Reviews for Heartbeat Detector

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

There's no killer revelation, just a graceful telescoping of past into present and a steadily accumulating dread.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
10/18/08
Steve Rose
Steve Rose
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A searing indictment of corporate responsibility that will intrigue conspiracy theorists.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/16/08
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An intriguing thriller with strong performances and a dense, complex script.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
05/15/08
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

A confronting examination of human evil in all its enduring banality, Heartbeat Detector takes a crooked path towards its bid for some straight talking.

Full Review Source: Channel 4 Film | comment Comment
05/09/08
Anton Bitel
Anton Bitel
Channel 4 Film
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cold and intellectual philosophical exposé of how European capitalism developed out of fascism through a mystery story of "corporate soldiers" intrigue.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
12/14/08
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

At just under two-and-a-half hours, the movie is a horrible bore.

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Jim Lane
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review

Heartbeat Detector works on so many levels at once that its power is difficult to capture.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
07/09/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com

As driven by linguistics and euphemism as this film is, it's also a slippery and wonderfully acted drama%u2014Michael Clayton with a far more troubling moral landscape.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/03/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

Though it is in part a stinging commentary on the soullessness of the corporate suit, Nicolas Klotz's film is extremely slow to get on track.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
03/21/08
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

Heartbeat Detector earns its points, arriving at a potent conclusion with a stealth and meticulousness that knocks the wind out of you.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
03/21/08
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Heartbeat Detector doesn't really unfold; when it doesn't drag, it lurches about in fits and starts

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/19/08
Doris Toumarkine
Doris Toumarkine
Film Journal International

Klotz walks a perilous tightrope between profundity and pretension without ever tipping into the chasm.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
03/19/08
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
Village Voice

A cinematic flatliner that was dead on arrival.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
03/18/08
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

Director Nicolas Klotz combines an intriguing story with a distinctive ambiance that will appeal to an audience beyond French film aficionados.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
03/17/08
Ed Scheid
Ed Scheid
Boxoffice Magazine

A chilling corporate thriller with an intriguing mystery on the surface and a deeply troubling idea at its dark core.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
03/14/08
Ken Fox
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Where Michael Clayton assumed the viewers’ utter naïveté regarding corporate malfeasance, Heartbeat Detector’s corrosive look at business culture rests on too overdetermined -- and at times outlandish -- a premise.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
03/14/08
Melissa Anderson
Melissa Anderson
Time Out New York

Intriguing, frustrating, exasperating -- the French film Heartbeat Detector succeeds best as a provocation.

comment Comment
03/14/08
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It seems that the old dictum of never building a house on an ancient Indian burial ground goes double, if not triple, for corporations.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/13/08
Chris Cabin
Chris Cabin
Filmcritic.com

Director Nicholas Klotz's subtle suspense film Heartbeat Detector comes across like a hybrid of Heart Of Darkness and Michael Clayton, digging into the roots of a psychosis affecting a veteran corporate lackey.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
03/13/08
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club

It's a thin line between 20th-century Nazism and 21st-century corporate culture in Heartbeat Detector, Nicolas Klotz's rewardingly chilly psychological thriller.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
03/12/08
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for Heartbeat Detector

July 21, 2008: A fatally-flawed cinematic flatliner that was dead on arrival. Opens in new window
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