77
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertA collision at the intersection of farce and tragedy--the apocalypse as a joke on us.
- 88New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack Mathews"Songs" is a delight. It's a visual feast and often hilarious.
- 80The New York TimesElvis MitchellThe New York TimesElvis MitchellA heartbreakingly thoughtful minor classic, the work of a genuine and singular artist.
- 75Boston GlobeTy BurrBoston GlobeTy BurrThe film is depressive, slow, darkly funny, unyielding in its formal rigor, and unsettlingly beautiful. It's obviously not for everyone, but only because not everyone can meet its stare.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyThe film is like an Ingmar Bergman movie as realized by Monty Python: It's seriously gloomy about the loss of spirituality in the world, but at the same time rudely, sometimes hilariously, absurd.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoA devastating indictment of unbridled greed and materalism, made all the more relevant by the Enron and WorldCom scandals.
- 70The A.V. ClubScott TobiasThe A.V. ClubScott TobiasThough the laughs in Songs From The Second Floor tend to stick in the throat, they're also cathartic and oddly comforting, because the world outside the movie theater is bound to look cheerier than the one on the screen.
- 40Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanDespite some deadpan, Jacques Tati-like orchestration and occasional sight gags, there's no real pleasure in the game -- Songs From the Second Floor is more absurd than funny.