70
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- The plot is gripping and relatively fast-paced, and Winger and Russell are excellent counterpoints to each other -- Winger is earthy and likable, and Russell is sexy and sinister.
- 80TV Guide MagazineTV Guide MagazineBoth Russell and Winger give solid performances, and the memory of the complex interplay between their ultimately not-so-very-different characters lingers long after the film has ended.
- 70The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyComes on with the seductiveness of an expensive perfume that inevitably evaporates before the night is over. However, though it promises more than it can ever deliver, this classy-looking melodrama is soothing, in the way that luxe can be, as well as redeemingly funny, in part, at least, for not becoming mired in its own darker possibilities.
- 70Washington PostPaul AttanasioWashington PostPaul AttanasioWhat makes Black Widow special is the fun Rafelson has with it. All the different ways of dying -- from empty scuba tanks to a penicillin allergy to something called Ondine's curse -- become not just plot points but a tapestry of black comedy.
- 70Los Angeles TimesSheila BensonLos Angeles TimesSheila BensonYou can be absorbed by Black Widow, fascinated and intrigued by it--and you can capitulate entirely while watching the seductive interplay of these two actresses--but Black Widow never really gets you by the throat. It’s sleek where it should be dangerous.
- 70Washington PostRita KempleyWashington PostRita KempleyWinger gets a 10 on the charismometer and gives the film its warmth and innocence. Russell, a wry sensation as Marilyn Monroe in "Insignificance," plays this femme fatale for keeps.
- 63Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertBlack Widow is an interesting movie struggling to escape from a fatal overload of commercial considerations.
- 60Time OutTime OutThere are things to enjoy - committed performances, Conrad Hall's elegant camerawork, a script that becomes pleasurably tortuous towards the end - but the film finally offers far less than meets the eye.
- 60EmpireWilliam ThomasEmpireWilliam ThomasThe two stars are very good, doubtless enjoying their high fashion outfits, and the script has one clever plot reversal in the third act, but it really could have done with a few more thrills (the motives for the killings lead to necessarily slow plot development), either in the murder or the sexual perversity departments.