92% No

All Critics (104) | Top Critics (31) | Fresh (96) | Rotten (8)

"No" is a picture that perches precariously on the cusp of a paradox.

A cunning and richly enjoyable combination of high-stakes drama and media satire from Chilean director Pablo Larrain.

A mesmerizing, realistic and often hilarious look at the politics of power and the power of ideas ...

A political drama, a personal drama, a sharp-eyed study of how the media manipulate us from all sides, No reels and ricochets with emotional force.

It's a funny look at the way the media warp public opinion, and a curiously hopeful one.

On every level, "No" leaves one with bittersweet feelings about democracy, love and the cost of compromise.

... like Mad Men, it's a period piece set in the world of advertising and it pays a distracting (and sometimes humorous) amount of attention to period details.

It works as drama. And strangely, considering we know the outcome, it generates considerable suspense.

Despite the light-heartedness, there's a hard, tense edge to the film.

Shooting the entire film on video equipment of the era gives No some visual snap but it is very much a pedestrian, by-the-numbers docu-drama tale, with the emphasis on the former rather than the latter.

NO is an important film - especially for people too young or too far removed from Pinochet's "Dirty War" to remember how horrifying the situation was in Argentina during the '70s and '80s. Bernal's screen presence goes a long way in making the movie work

A bitingly funny, fascinating and moving portrait of Pinochet's fall that's smartly shot and superbly performed.

"NO" is an inspirational political drama in which the people are roused by the visual to overcome the vicious.

... features a fine performance by Gael Garc?a Bernal as young ad exec Ren? Saavedra, who didn't, at first, quite realise what he was in for when he decided to assist in the bringing down of military dictator Augusto Pinochet.

No is a great historical document as to how one very important revolution started with a commercial.

The understated performance by Bernal was inspiring, as was the pic.

It's not easy material but it's truly fascinating, and expertly done.

An extremely perceptive and intriguing examination of the effect that media hype and spin have on the political process.

...a bitter and knowing meditation on media manipulation and political subversion.

Larrain deftly mixes social satire and historical drama.

All historical and little drama.

Larrain does a fine job of making No look and sound authentic to its time period, although the VHS-quality photography, all washed-out with colors bleeding together as camcorders did in the '80s, is an occasional irritant.

Silliness is on the side of the angels in a brilliant and highly entertaining film that's part political thriller, part media satire.

It's clear that the language of advertising has become universal, and that political commodities can be sold like soap. But toppling a dictatorship? Now there's a story.

A reflection of a moment in time, made in the image of that moment.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no_2012/

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