Washington Post by Stephen Hunter

It's sad, funny, shocking and completely unlike any movie in a dozen years.

New Times (L.A.) by David Ehrenstein

One of the most genuinely shocking films you'll ever see.

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

Setting it against the backdrop of a wanton city under siege, Schroeder crafts a film of whiplash urgency.

Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas

As the film, with its haunting score and inspired use of popular music, builds flawlessly to its resounding conclusion, it is accompanied by a pitch-dark humor that grows out of the sheer absurdity of the city's daily body count.

L.A. Weekly by Ernest Hardy

A scathing, darkly funny political essay wrapped inside a tragic love story (or vice versa).

Miami Herald by René Rodríguez

In a film overstuffed with tragedy, the most painful one might be the gradual transformation of Fernando's moral and intellectual indignation into a weary, cynical detachment.

Boston Globe by Jay Carr

Plays like a dislocated version of ''Death in Venice,'' but in a dryer, higher climate that features exponentially more firepower.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

The film's title is appropriate. A desperate Catholicism flavors the doomed city.

The New York Times by Stephen Holden

Couldn't have succeeded had it been cast with movie stars. Its authenticity derives not only from the streets on which it was filmed but also from its able Colombian cast.

Washington Post by Desson Thomson

The grimness of the movie becomes not only too unbearable, its point is clear about halfway through. After that, everything comes across as redundant retreading of the same perspective. But for atmosphere, great cinematography and eye-opening directness, this movie can't be beat.

San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann

A marvelous film.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by William Arnold

An utterly nihilistic, harrowingly upsetting vision of hell on earth.

Village Voice by Jessica Winter

The performances can be stiff, but a kinetic mix of anxiety, dread, and numbed resignation is always palpable.

TV Guide Magazine by Ken Fox

Rough, breathless adaptation of Fernando Vallejo's ferociously sardonic novel.

USA Today by Mike Clark

The movie itself IS dull, however. The characters never engage our interest, and the relentless violence grows monotonous.

Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow

The blend of chic histrionics and ultra-bright daylight imagery make much of the movie resemble a network soap opera with an on-location interlude. It looks as cheap as life is held in Medellin.