With no emotional or stylistic hooks, there's not much compelling viewers to engage with what's happening onscreen.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
San Francisco Chronicle by Amy Biancolli
As a runner, the robber is dogged; as a robber, the runner is efficient, explosive and fast.
Boxoffice Magazine by John P. McCarthy
It's difficult to imagine a more fascinating case of sociopathic, obsessive-compulsive behavior, or a more disciplined, engrossing study of it. And yet a vital ingredient is missing.
Some viewers might give the movie a few extra points for its retro vibe of taciturn badassedness. But little punctures the wall of emotional remove-the pulse rate is way too controlled for entertainment's sake.
Village Voice by Melissa Anderson
Against interpretation, Heisenberg (who is, after all, the grandson of the physicist who gave us the uncertainty principle) has nonetheless created a nimble, dynamic character study of a fiercely guarded loner on the run.
The New York Times by Mike Hale
The Robber may have less on its mind than its sheen of seriousness would suggest, but the view is gorgeous.
It might've mattered to the audience too, if we had any inkling from the first hour of The Robber who this guy is, or why we should care what happens to him.
Heisenberg's thriller ends with a chase across highways and through woods that will give viewers adrenaline highs of their own.