Fresh
The material is simple and irresistible, and Sydney Pollack stages it well (though without transcending the essential superficiality of his talent).
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
People are the ultimate spectacle.
1969 · 2h · M
Drama
Directed by
Sydney Pollack
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They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
Overview
In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
82%
Tomatometer
Fresh
A sordid spectacle of hard times, a kind of existentialist allegory of life.
Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh
The movie is by far the best thing that Pollack has ever directed (with the possible exception of The Scalphunters).
Vincent Canby, New York Times
Rotten
The acting is strident and overblown, the narrative technique gimmicky and obvious, and the implication that the competitors' situation is a microcosm of a wider-reaching American malaise rather pretentious.
Time Out
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