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Chalk
Tenderloin Action Group

Chalk reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 57 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
10.0 out of 10
based on 8 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 1 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not rated

Starring Edwin Johnson, Johnnie Reese, Kelvin Han Yee, and Don Bajema

This gritty drama focuses on the misfits who hang out in a rundown California pool hall.


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Don Bajema
Rob Nilsson
 
DIRECTED BY: Rob Nilsson  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: August 25, 2000 
RUNNING TIME: 134 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

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...

75
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Chalk is not the kind of movie many people will appreciate at first viewing. You have to understand who Nilsson and his actors are, and give some thought to the style, to appreciate it.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post V.A. Musetto
Difficult but rewarding.
Read Full Review
70
Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
A sparing use of exterior shots during the mesmerizing buildup to the match heightens their impact, while invasively tight close-ups put the actors to the test.
Read Full Review
70
Village Voice Amy Taubin
What gives the film extra weight is the sense that these are not just actors trying to enhance their careers but real people seizing a chance for immortality.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Examiner Edvin Beitiks
An impressive low-whistle, hardscrabble look at the world of pool sharks and the people who crisscross their lives.
Read Full Review
50
The New York Times Dave Kehr
Finally fails to escape the conventions of the Hollywood cinema it so proudly deplores.
Read Full Review
50
San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
Has unusual visual vitality in a John Cassavetes vein. For the adventurous, it's worth checking out.
Read Full Review
40
Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Emerges as an artful, courageous, experimental work that is as compelling as it is impaired.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Yoon C. gave it a 10:
Comparable to Mean Streets but in many respects bolder and more daring, and definitely more mature and thoughtful, this is a powerful movie about existential angst, loneliness and fear, self-doubt, and dream of redemption thru a thicket of corruption, compromise, ruthless disregard, and self-realization. In its sexual dynamic, racial relations, individual portrayals Chalk never goes to the blackboard to give us neat little lessons as with Spike Lee or John Sayles. Instead, it sears the disparate elements of American society into antagonistic but ultimately shared pain and angst. Visually and dramatically it may strike some viewers as messyand cluttered but this very texture is integral to the movie's vision of life. Has a great, powerful ending that's well earned.

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