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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
83
Alexandra
43
Anamorph
35
Babysitters, The
32
Backseat
80
Band's Visit, The
62
Battle for Haditha
47
Bella
63
Blind Mountain
71
Blindsight
47
Boarding Gate
63
Body of War
58
Bra Boys
70
Caramel
54
Cashback
44
Chaos Theory
32
Chapter 27
69
Chicago 10
82
Chop Shop
46
CJ7
78
Counterfeiters, The
30
Cover
48
Dark Matter
35
Deal
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
58
Fall, The
43
Favor, The
58
First Saturday in May, The
57
Flawless
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
xx
From Within
44
Frontier(s)
59
Fugitive Pieces
41
Funny Games
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
61
Girls Rock!
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
57
Grand, The
58
Hats Off
68
Honeydripper
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
67
Jellyfish
xx
Kiss the Bride
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
72
Life of Reilly, The
50
Look
65
Married Life
35
Meet Bill
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
54
Mister Lonely
52
My Blueberry Nights
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
52
Noise
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
83
Paranoid Park
55
Pathology
48
Penelope
90
Persepolis
62
Planet B-Boy
xx
Plumm Summer, A
67
Praying with Lior
46
Previous Engagement, A
72
Priceless
17
Prom Night
69
Redbelt
72
Roman de gare
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
85
Savages, The
24
Sex and Death 101
66
Shelter
75
Shotgun Stories
40
Sleepwalking
67
Snow Angels
64
Son of Rambow
71
Standard Operating Procedure
76
Stuff and Dough
64
Surfwise
xx
Tashan
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
57
Teeth
56
Then She Found Me
55
Tracey Fragments, The
56
Turn the River
72
Tuya's Marriage
83
U2 3D
59
Under the Same Moon
76
Unforeseen, The
xx
Unsettled
91
Up the Yangtze
55
Vice
79
Visitor, The
64
Water Lilies
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
57
Without the King
74
Witnesses, The
63
XXY
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
75
Young@Heart
45
Zombie Strippers
97
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
91
Up the Yangtze
90
Persepolis
87
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Savages, The
83
Paranoid Park
83
Alexandra
83
U2 3D
82
Chop Shop
82
Taxi to the Dark Side
80
Band's Visit, The
79
Visitor, The
78
Counterfeiters, The
76
Unforeseen, The
76
Stuff and Dough
75
Young@Heart
75
Shotgun Stories
74
Witnesses, The
73
Duchess of Langeais, The
72
Roman de gare
72
Priceless
72
Tuya's Marriage
72
Life of Reilly, The
71
My Brother Is an Only Child
71
Blindsight
71
Standard Operating Procedure
70
Caramel
69
Redbelt
69
Chicago 10
68
Honeydripper
67
Snow Angels
67
Praying with Lior
67
Year My Parents Went on Vacation, The
67
Jellyfish
66
George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead
66
Shelter
65
Married Life
64
Surfwise
64
Son of Rambow
64
Water Lilies
63
XXY
63
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
63
Body of War
63
Blind Mountain
62
Planet B-Boy
62
Battle for Haditha
61
Dhamma Brothers, The
61
OSS 117: Cairo - Nest of Spies
61
Girls Rock!
59
Under the Same Moon
59
Fugitive Pieces
58
First Saturday in May, The
58
Fall, The
58
Hats Off
58
Bra Boys
57
Flawless
57
Teeth
57
Without the King
57
Grand, The
56
Turn the River
56
Then She Found Me
55
Vice
55
Tracey Fragments, The
55
Pathology
55
Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts
54
Cashback
54
Mister Lonely
52
Noise
52
My Blueberry Nights
50
Look
48
Run, Fat Boy, Run
48
Dark Matter
48
Penelope
47
Bella
47
Boarding Gate
46
CJ7
46
Previous Engagement, A
45
Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?
45
Zombie Strippers
44
Frontier(s)
44
Chaos Theory
43
Anamorph
43
Favor, The
41
Funny Games
40
Sleepwalking
37
Life Before Her Eyes, The
35
Meet Bill
35
Babysitters, The
35
Deal
32
Backseat
32
Chapter 27
30
Cover
24
Sex and Death 101
20
Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
17
Prom Night
xx
Tashan
xx
Unsettled
xx
Plumm Summer, A
xx
Kiss the Bride
xx
Jack and Jill vs. the World
xx
From Within
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Claim, The
MGM / UA
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for sexuality, and some language and violence
Starring
Peter Mullan,
Sarah Polley,
Wes Bentley,
Milla Jovovich,
and
Nastassja Kinski
A raw, romantic tale of stark beauty and primal authenticity about how dreams collided with greed in the making of California. (MGM)
| GENRE(S): |
Western
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Frank Cottrell Boyce
Thomas Hardy (novel The Mayor of Casterbridge)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Michael Winterbottom
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 26, 2001
Video: June 26, 2001
Theatrical: December 29, 2000
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
120 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK / France / Canada |

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...
90
LA Weekly
F. X. Feeney
A superb film by any measure, as deep and harsh as the sin Dillon committed to become great.

90
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
One of those rare literary adaptations that finds its fidelity in freedom, that stands as both a fitting version of its source material and as its own creation.

89
Austin Chronicle
Kimberley Jones
The characters in The Claim suffer under the weight of very big things -- betrayal, abandonment, disease, death -- but they do so quietly, stoically, until, by God, they just can't take it anymore.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Parsimonious with its plot, which is revealed on a need-to-know basis. At first, we're not even sure who is who; dialogue is half-heard, references are unclear, the townspeople know things we discover only gradually.

88
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Stark, haunting, epic, and mournful, The Claim is a mountain of a film.
80
Slate
David Edelstein
Gives off the same vapor of impending tragedy—of a fate neither just nor unjust but ineffably, wrenchingly right.

80
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
A sleeper that's well worth hunting down. Its rewards sneak up on you, but then linger long afterwards.

75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
Beautifully acted and conceived -- even if the final vision is not always totally satisfying.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
I liked The Claim -- as much for its stark visual beauty and impassioned performances as its intelligent script and willingness to probe the tragic side of life.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
It overcomes some patchiness to turn into a rich emotional experience, ranging in degree from fire to ice.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Desmond Ryan
Winterbottom also has the insight to share the novelist's suggestion that landscape can reflect and, to a degree, even shape character.
75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Its sprawling canvas is mere backdrop for the most intimate of character studies -- a portrait of a man who chose material wealth and found emotional ruin.

70
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
A languorously muted, occasionally magnificent film.

70
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Draws an electric performance from Peter Mullan.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
There's something almost too controlled, cerebral, and overdetermined about Winterbottom's Western notions.

50
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
The film moves too slowly and dispassionately to resonate as it should.

50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
This strikingly beautiful anti-western is filled with arresting images.

50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Aside from an uninspired script by Frank Cotrell Boyce, is that none of the assembled actors really has enough star presence to compete with the sheer spectacle.
50
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Despite the film's impressively epic look and an interesting cast of young and old actors, it ringingly sounds the same dour note over and over again.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Sadly the film is so elusive, so distant, that it never seems more than half-alive.

50
USA Today
Staff [Not Credited]
The actors seem as frozen as the landscape in this unsuccessful attempt at a grand and profound Western about the California Gold Rush.
50
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Seems more clever than heartfelt, and whether you enjoy it may depend on how much you like Robert Altman's eccentric western "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," which it uncannily resembles.

50
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
Nicely acted, wonderfully scenic but emotionally vapid.

50
Film.com
Robert Horton
This director's (Winterbottom) reach is impressive, but this time it doesn't quite grasp.

40
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The film feels inauthentic, a cardboard version of other epics that's cast for distribution to various world markets.

40
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
Comes to the screen missing subtle cues and crucial connections.
30
TNT RoughCut
Andy Klein
I can’t imagine why anyone would plunge ahead with this project -- an adaptation of a classic no one reads, about characters no one could care about, directed by a filmmaker of little talent and less success.
20
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
A numb, oddly dispassionate trudge toward predestined doom, inevitable in all the wrong ways.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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