40
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMike Nichols’ The Day of the Dolphin trips on its own stylishness and tries so hard not to be a conventional science-fiction thriller that it fails, alas, to be anything.
- 50The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyThe Day of the Dolphin is not a movie with much personality of its own.
- 50Mike Nichols' film of The Day of the Dolphin is a rare and regrettably uneven combination of ideas and action. George C. Scott stars as a marine scientist whose work with dolphins faces corruption by his own sponsors. The story climax strains belief, but Nichols is one of a handful of directors who can get away with occasional improbability.
- 50Village VoiceAndrew SarrisVillage VoiceAndrew SarrisThe problem is not with the subject, nor even with its presumably escapist spirit. The problem is that Mike Nichols and Buck Henry fail to bring it off successfully. [27 Dec 1973, p.51]
- 30The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelIt's preposterously ill-conceived.
- The plot soon disintegrates into dumbness, despite Scott's believable portrayal of an aquatic Dr. Dolittle. The screenplay chooses some poor times to relieve tension, and the jokes fall flat.