62
Metascore
11 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80Chicago ReaderDave KehrChicago ReaderDave KehrGraham Greene's impeccably plotted spy story serves Preminger's personal aims with a minimum of modification, as the film develops themes of loneliness, debilitation, and obsessive security—all centered on the tragic survival of moral feeling in a world drained by reason.
- 80The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyA fascinating, slightly chilly picture — as well as one of the best Preminger films in years.
- The Human Factor, a spy saga and Preminger’s final film, is an overlooked gem.
- 70NewsweekDavid AnsenNewsweekDavid AnsenSometimes flat, The Human Factor is nonetheless a lucidly impressive return to form for the 73-year-old director. It's not really a thriller at all, but an understated, uncompromising dissection of an event: an anatomy of the murder of a soul. [11 Feb 1980, p.82]
- 67Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittIt is a splendidly appropriate project for Otto Preminger, even though he hasn't succeeded at making the most of it.
- 60Time OutTime OutThe whole thing badly lacks any sort of central thematic focus, and the strangely obsessive Englishness of Greene's world is altogether missing. Craftsmanlike rather than inspired, it's watchable thanks largely to its solid performances.
- 50TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineWhile far from a bad film, The Human Factor fails to convey the desperation and stagnation felt by the Williamson character.
- 50Graham Greene's low-keyed, highly absorbing 1978 novel of an aging English double agent finding himself trapped into defecting to Moscow and leaving his family behind may have seemed like ideal material for Otto Preminger's style of dispassionate ambiguity, but helmer doesn't seem up to the occasion, bringing little atmosphere or feeling to the delicate ticks of the story.
- 50The Associated PressBob ThomasThe Associated PressBob ThomasA cerebral approach to espionage and defection, often suspenseful but sometimes dull. [26 Jan 1980]
- 40Washington PostGary ArnoldWashington PostGary ArnoldExquistely written but treacherously threadbare Greene. The author's style doesn't emerge through the filters of Tom Stoppard's foreshortened screenplay and Preminger's monotonous direction, which keeps the exposition at such a low energy level that the scenes feel instantly depleted. [18 Apr 1980, p.E1]