The New York Times - Not Recommended
"...One of the biggest problems (though not the only one) in comprehending "China Doll" is that Mr. Pacino's lurching, stammering performance is not easy to follow in terms of content, character or subtext. There has been more than enough evidence in the past to certify that Mr. Pacino is a bona fide genius, so let's assume that there are reasons for what he's doing here."
NY Daily News - Not Recommended
"...`China Doll' is not even better than oral surgery. At least for that sort of medical procedure you get painkillers. And it's not a complete waste of time and money...Pacino is Mickey Ross, who's on his cellphone for three-quarters of the show. Not the stuff of great drama...The entire production hinges on its star attraction...Pacino can't make Mamet's malarkey into anything. Some actors can make reading the white pages fascinating. Pacino fails to make phone calls anything but drudgery."
Hollywood Reporter - Not Recommended
"...A smug but pointless exercise stretched over two hours and enlivened only by the occasional incisive political zinger...This is a far-fetched scenario whose scant credibility escapes it like air out of an unknotted balloon, landing with a splat in a preposterous ending that doesn't work at all... Although the Pacino as always is a unique stage animal, he's giving a lazy performance without much heart."
Vulture - Somewhat Recommended
"...Al Pacino is not an actor of much breadth but he stakes a narrow territory deeply, and that can be brilliant to watch onstage. China Doll, his shaky new Broadway vehicle, by David Mamet, offers flashes of that brilliance between long mucky passages in which he appears to be hunting for the narrative, if not the next line."
Variety - Not Recommended
"...Come back, come back, wherever you are, David Mamet. All is forgiven (even "Race") if you will just quit jerking us around on non-plays like "China Doll" and get a grip. There's material for maybe a one-act in this overblown character study of a power broker whose sins are about to catch up with him. But even with Al Pacino putting him through his emotional paces, this tarnished titan is going through hell in a vacuum, with no one to play off but unheard voices on the other end of the telephone."
New York Post - Not Recommended
"...As terrible as the buzz has been - Pacino struggling with his lines, theatergoers demanding refunds, a delayed opening - the reality is even worse. The plot, such as it is, plays out like a bad parody of Mamet at his worst - all tough-guy posturing, secret motives, power plays, violent resolution - and with zero impact...Asking us to feel for a rich dude committing tax evasion: Mamet is setting up a real challenge for himself."
Newsday - Not Recommended
"...The playwright has given Pacino almost no story to build around his character and given him lines that pick over the same obvious plot points, mostly with the same barking emphasis...It is always a kick to watch Pacino wrestle with a character - and this one is a beast. Every so often, Mamet gives him a wonderful line that sums up the dark side of humanity. More often, however, the writing is as lazy as Mickey calling someone 'more fun than a Swiss Army Knife.'"
amNY - Not Recommended
"...For the most part, 'China Doll' is a rambling, incoherent monologue...With big gestures and expressions, Pacino delivers a highly worked-up, outlandish performance that could be interpreted as a desperate attempt to add entertainment. Despite the play's problems, Pacino's theatrics throw it off further dramatically. The visual opulence of Pam MacKinnon's production is also questionable."
Wall Street Journal - Somewhat Recommended
"...A strongly wrought story of considerable moral complexity, one that will hold your attention all the way to the brutal end... Not only is the premise of 'China Doll' involving, but Mr. Mamet is once again coining the bright, hard utterances that are his trademark...I never felt that Pacino was at ease with his lines. Especially in the first act, his pace is much slower than you expect it to be...In his best moments he's as richly characterful as ever."
NorthJersey - Not Recommended
"...If 'China Doll' were written by an aspiring playwright, you'd wonder if the author should be exploring another line of work. That it's the creation of David Mamet, one of the most influential authors in contemporary American theater, is mind-boggling. Among its transgressions is the abuse of the talent of Al Pacino, who gives a valiant performance, although one that also seems to acknowledge he knows when he's beaten. The drama is a pointless, drawn-out mess."
Chicago Tribune - Not Recommended
"...Who knows. It is impossible to discern from watching Mamet's two-character, multiphone drama, "China Doll," one of the stranger and more confounding evenings anyone could ever hope to spend on Broadway. Herewith, a script and production so provocatively dismissive of all that is generally associated with theatrical craft, rule keeping and hive-driven aesthetic understanding that it feels at least partially deliberate."
Time Out New York - Not Recommended
"...hina Doll offers the sad spectacle of two world-class artists turning in their lamest work. The play (in which Christopher Denham costars as an efficient assistant) is crammed with backstory and padded with an interminable series of phone calls. Pacino, wobbly on his lines, dithers without the vocal snap and drive that Mamet-even late, third-rate Mamet-needs to sustain tension. Maybe someone should tell the writer that his producers can afford a third character or better yet, a dramaturg with ideas."
The Wrap - Recommended
"...It's a very slow burning first act...The carefully parsed-out details that we do learn, however, make for a riveting second act. Much of the language is sublime and there are great one liners along the way: 'Everyone wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die.' But would 'China Doll' work without Pacino or a star of his caliber? No way...He brings out his entire arsenal of shtick...And he's great doing all of it."
The Guardian - Not Recommended
"...It's unclear how much Pacino is enjoying the exercise...He often seems distracted, stuttering over his sentences...Much of the first act feels like throat clearing, a long limbering up to set the wheels of plot spinning. Spinning is most of what they continue to do throughout the second act until a wildly improbably finale...Pam MacKinnon has little success in clarifying the relationships or even the setting...If Pacino had not signed on, would anyone have bothered with this at all?"
Deadline - Not Recommended
"...As if apologizing to the audience, Pacino seems determined to paint a world that Mamet has lazily denied him, defined by petty backstabbing politicians, sycophantic hangers-on, tax-dodging, shelter-seeking masters of the universe and savvy corporate functionaries. That's a tough assignment for an actor given no more than a wireless headset to play off (along with, occasionally, the humorously eager but stolid Denham). I loved that in Act I, Mickey's wearing an unbuttoned tux and patent leather shoes, and in Act II the next day, he's put on velvet opera slippers. Cool guy, even in defeat. And I don't mean defeat by a vindictive pol."
Talkin Broadway - Not Recommended
"...All the proper elements appear to be on hand, but the few tiny misalignments are just killers. With the proper additional time, the pieces could come together into what there's every reason to believe the play can be: a gripping, incisive look at what happens when a free-wheeling rich man is transformed into an animal locked in a cage of his own making. But that's unlikely to happen as long as Pacino, and not the magnificent monster he's portraying, is the one who seems lost and trapped."
TheaterMania - Somewhat Recommended
"...Is 'China Doll' a great play? No. At times it's barely passable...It isn't dramatically compelling...'China Doll' is confusing...It's almost as though the scenes that explained each person were axed from the finished script...Still, nothing beats a sharp Mamet one-liner, and this script is peppered with several...Pacino's work is virtuosic, drawing on his years of experience playing characters with the shortest possible fuse to deliver the quintessential Al Pacino performance. And that's thrilling."
Huffington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"...Ultimately, it feels like a stunt; by keeping the other side of the discussion silent, the playwright doesn't have to justify what Mickey is saying. Some of the leaps in the plot are so oblique that the play loses any steam it had...But after all is said and done you are left with Al Pacino...If 'China Doll' has its weaknesses--and it has--it also has Al Pacino. And Al Pacino, on this occasion, is enough."
DC Theatre Scene - Somewhat Recommended
"...What's most unclear is why Mamet wants to keep so much unclear...But as the play progresses, there is, if not complete clarity, a growing force and focus...Mamet gives Pacino the gift of snappy dialogue...In return, Pacino gives Mickey a specificity of intonation and of gesture that somehow compensates for the vagueness of the script. That specificity, of course, is Pacino's, his familiar repertoire, semaphores of his stardom - the Pacino shout; the Pacino point."
Front Row Center - Not Recommended
"...An audience can care about ANYTHING when there is passion behind the story. Needlework, cleaning horse stalls, and even watching paint dry. Just light the match of passion and we are hooked. Which is why we are so disconnected from the goings on in this production. First of all, David Mamet's script is nearly lifeless...At the center of this tale is a temper tantrum on very, very slow burn. "
Broadway World - Recommended
"...Al Pacino seems perfectly secure and in control of everything he's saying on stage...He's detailed, committed and always interesting to watch...The balance actor Denham adds to the play is invaluable and the most effective asset of director MacKinnon's production...It does provide enough of the old Mamet tension and cynicism that makes decent people feel disgust for the world we live in. And sometimes that's enough to send you out of the theatre with a smile on your face."
