Review 1:
"...The nihilistic, punky buzz packs an immortal wallop....Classic..."
Source: Total Film
p.110 11/01/2002
Review 2:
"...Call them art or artifacts of an age, but most of the Brit working-class dramas from the early 1960s still hold up....[An] era-evocative movie..."
Source: USA Today
p.3D 12/04/1992
Review 3:
"...British realism meets novelle vague-style realism in Allan Sillitoe's tale about a young delinquent who turn out to be a brilliant cross-country runner..."
Source: Sight and Sound
p.68 05/01/2003
Review 4:
"What does hold up is Courtenay's natural, scrappy performance." -- Grade: B
Source: Entertainment Weekly
p.65 02/16/2007