A recovering gambling addict attempts to reconcile with his family and friends but finds trouble and temptation when caught between feelings for his ex-wife and her dangerous hoodlum boyfriend.
What The Underneath lacks is the kind of emotional connection that the best film noirs have. Instead of involving, this film is distancing, too given to admiring its own shiny surface.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Feb 2001
fresh:
A departure from the run-of- the-mill thriller.
– James Berardinelli,
ReelViews,
1 Jan 2000
fresh:
Downbeat, laconically funny, arty (maybe a touch too arty), it's simmering, smoldering lowlife fun, like a good episode of Twin Peaks without the self-conscious weirdness.
– Joe Brown,
Washington Post,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
As tales of sex and sinfulness go, Soderbergh's fourth film doesn't deliver.