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Assisted Living
Economic Projections

Assisted Living reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 57 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
9.0 out of 10
based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 4 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Michael Bonsignore, Maggie Riley, Malerie Boone, Nancy Jo Boone, Hance Purcell, Kathy Hogan, Jose Albovias, and The Staff & Residents of the Masonic Homes of Kentucky

Assisted Living follows 27-year-old Todd through his final day of work as a janitor at a nursing home.


GENRE(S): Comedy  |  Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Elliot Greenebaum  
DIRECTED BY: Elliot Greenebaum  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: January 10, 2006 
Theatrical: February 2, 2005 
RUNNING TIME: 78 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Grand Jury Prize, 2003 Slamdance International Film Festival; Maverick Award (Best Feature Film), 2003 Woodstock Film Festival; Best Feature, 2003 Gen Art Film Festival

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

80
Film Threat Eric Campos
It's difficult at first to tell whether this is a documentary or a fictional work and this makes Assisted Living all the more involving.
Read Full Review
80
Washington Post Desson Thomson
This finale turns Assisted Living from fascinating experimental film into something finer.
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80
Slate David Edelstein
Somehow, Assisted Living jells. Maggie Riley is astoundingly convincing, and she and Bonsignore's Todd have an unforced chemistry that catches you off guard.
Read Full Review
75
San Francisco Chronicle Jonathan Curiel
Works more often than it doesn't.
Read Full Review
75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Gently filmed, quietly thoughtful, sometimes almost heartbreaking.
Read Full Review
70
The New York Times Stephen Holden
May be a comedy, but its images of physical frailty are inescapably unsettling. As the camera fixates on frail, spotted trembling hands unsteadily reaching out, it is impossible not to imagine a future in which those hands could be yours.
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70
TV Guide Ken Fox
Greenebaum manages to portray old-age as a condition with its own peculiar beauty and considerable grace.
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70
Variety Scott Foundas
A noteworthy piece on a difficult subject.
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70
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Yet for all its willful blurring of the lines between documentary and fiction, Assisted Living is the least self-conscious of movies.
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70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
Only 22 when he began shooting the film, Greenebaum displays a prodigious understanding of the treatment of the elderly in contemporary America.
Read Full Review
63
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The whimsy Greenebaum wants to construct can't match the terminal sadness that naturally takes over the film. Perhaps in accidental tribute to Todd, the whole thing feels half-baked.
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60
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
Assisted Living's overall mix doesn't quite jell, though there are worthwhile moments.
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60
The Hollywood Reporter Joe Mader
A curious film with real heart but questionable technique. This art house fodder is just quirky and fresh enough to catch on with audiences.
Read Full Review
50
Village Voice Peter L'Official
There's a finer line between peaceable pothead jocularity and just being a dick--and sometimes it's tough to tell whether Todd is more Jon Stewart or Tucker Carlson.
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50
The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
Assisted Living gets a little better as it wears on, and at least it's refreshingly short.
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50
Austin Chronicle Shawn Badgley
The occasionally contrived music-video slicky edge, and the fact that there's no way on God's green earth that what takes place in Assisted Living happens in one day, it's a noble effort.
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38
New York Post Debra Birnbaum
Jarringly insensitive and amateurish debut feature.
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25
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Greenebaum's tedious, film-school level exercise in self-indulgence and exploitation.
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0
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Parts of the film play like the world's slowest and most insensitive reality show (Who Wants to Be an Octogenarian?).
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Lee D. gave it an8:
Really cute, won't win an Oscar, but it held my interest. It was a mix of sad, but also funny as real life is.

Mark K. gave it an8:
The film is both funny and painful. Those with parent and grandparents warehoused in these facilities will find some portions hard to take, but the movies reality is what makes it worth watching.

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