|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Caveman's Valentine, The
Universal Focus
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language, some violence and sexuality
Starring
Samuel L. Jackson,
Aunjanue Ellis,
Ann Magnuson,
Tamara Tunie,
Anthony Michael Hall,
and
Colm Feore
In this penetrating and touching neo-Gothic thriller, Samuel L. Jackson delivers a powerful performance as Romulus Ledbetter, a man caught on the sharp edge between genius and madness. (Universal Focus)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
George Dawes Green (also novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Kasi Lemmons
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 17, 2001
Video: July 17, 2001
Theatrical: March 2, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
105 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

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
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
An intriguing, visually startling murder mystery that showcases the virtuosity of Samuel L. Jackson.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Holds less water as a mystery because its plot holes - and choppy pacing - make it seem as disconnected from reality as its hero. But Jackson is so frighteningly effective, and affecting, as Romulus that you're sucked in anyway.
75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
So suggestively atmospheric is Amelia Vincent's cinematography and Robin Standefer's art direction that mood -- and of course Jackson's performance -- sustains the movie.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
To watch Samuel L. Jackson in the role is to realize again what a gifted actor he is, how skilled at finding the right way to play a character who, in other hands, might be unplayable.

70
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
If anyone can sell the idea of ... some psycho "Sherlock Holmes," it's Samuel L. Jackson.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
There is pleasure in giving oneself up to the gusty swirls of the film's imagery, and especially to the handsome grandeur of its star.

67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
Never quite shakes itself free of the tired cliche that street people are quirky, sometimes cute, and somehow privy to a spiritual purity lost to us social folk.

63
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
The movie loses its magic by the time the solution is revealed.
63
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
The details of the story, crucial in a picture that's at least partly a mystery, remain a tangled blur.

60
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
Works as everything but a mystery, yet it is intriguing in a number of ways. And the ending is as resolute as you might have hoped for. It lets Romulus and the movie retain their integrity.

60
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
Overall it's a frustratingly uneven movie, delicate at one moment and bluntly obvious the next.

60
Dallas Observer
Luke Y. Thompson
Deserves an A for ambition, but the final product is a pastiche of too many predecessors.

50
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Dramatically speaking, The Caveman's Valentine is a dead end.
50
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Offers a dazzling showcase for Samuel L. Jackson.

50
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
From the start, this movie sets the bar high -- then, unfortunately, runs smack into it.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
More psychological realism and less showy cinema would have made this offbeat melodrama more memorable.

42
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
An unsteady and uneven film, which bangs up against its ambitions gracelessly and distractingly.
40
Slate
David Edelstein
You couldn't ask for a better pair of wild eyes than Jackson's.

40
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
As impressive as Jackson is and as thought-provoking as director Kasi Lemmons' movie is, it's ultimately satisfying neither as a genre piece nor as an art film.

38
USA Today
Staff [Not Credited]
Calling a cave of rocks home while spouting invective worthy of the Juilliard attendee he once was, homeless-by-choice Samuel L. Jackson worms his way into one of the least compelling mysteries in years.
30
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
It hovers somewhere in that never-never land of movies that try to do too much and don't quite live up to any of their ambitions.

30
Chicago Reader
Reece Pendleton
Kasi Lemmons directed this tepid thriller, whose only genuinely creepy aspect is its cavalier and uninformed use of mental illness and classical music to heighten the meager suspense.

30
Film.com
Robert Horton
It may have a good liberal conscience, and genuine sympathy for the rare perspective of a homeless person, but this movie is a fundamentally sentimental exercise.

25
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
A wildly implausible thriller.

20
Time
Richard Corliss
Despite Jackson's typically bravura turn, this Valentine massacre marks a step backward for the gifted director of Eve's Bayou.
20
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
Especially disappointing that Lemmons, who in "Eve's Bayou" gave us insightful glimpses into the emotional world of black adults, has lost her balance, elevating formula over revelation.

10
Village Voice
Amy Taubin
Valentine isn't exploitative or trendy in the manner of so many indie films. Rather, it seems like the kind of art film that might have been dreamed up by a feverish high schooler.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|