Gone is the suffocating dourness of Drive and Only God Forgives, replaced by actual legitimate and purposeful humor, with Refn 100 % in on the joke. (alphaprimitive.com)
There's a critique that ought to be evident in all of the carnal opulence on display — a critique experienced somewhat through Rick's dizzying dourness as he masquerades unhappily through the scene — but the larger picture — that of a celebrity who's become engulfed in his own sickening self - importance — escapes Malick in the most significant, reproachable of ways. (silverscreenriot.com)
While the key to the episode is a huge Griffin Muppet animated, in part, by Henson's son Brian, the humour of its spoiled prissiness is offset by a melancholy subplot involving a doomed ferryman played with convincing dourness by veteran character actor Robert Eddison. (filmfreakcentral.net)