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Forty Shades of Blue
First Look Pictures


8.0

based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 5 votes
Read user comments
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FILM:

Married Life

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Rip Torn, Dina Korzun, Darren E. Burrows, Paprika Steen, and Red West

Forty Shades of Blue tells the story of Laura, a young Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock n' roll legend, and the personal awakening she experiences in the wake of her unfortunate affair with his estranged son. (First Look Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Michael Rohatyn Ira Sachs
DIRECTED BY:	Ira Sachs
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: June 13, 2006 Theatrical: September 28, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	108 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Grand Jury Prize (Dramatic), 2005 Sundance Film Festival; Grand Special Prize, 2005 Deauville Film Festival

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...

100

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kate Taylor

Delicate, intelligent and honest.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

A compelling family melodrama somewhat in the manner of late John Cassavetes or early Robert Altman…the film combines high production values, terrific acting and a distinctively American lyricism in a combination you hardly ever see these days.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Alan, who Mr. Sachs has said was based on his own father, is a great character - passionate, complicated, bursting with life. Those words also describe Mr. Torn's performance.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Director Ira Sachs moves to the rhythms of his native Memphis, teasing emotional resonance out of geography.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

The song may be somewhat familiar, but Sach gets understated performances from his entire cast and finds interesting harmonies as they play out their clashing duets.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Investing a lot of time on each corner of his three-sided character piece, director Ira Sachs (who co-wrote the film with Michael Rohatyn) has created a film as dramatically intense as it is opaque.

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

This is still powerful, undiluted stuff -- a jolt of backwoods moonshine whiskey injected into the veins of the atrophied American relationship drama.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Sachs has pulled off a film of inferences and intimations, thanks largely to the casting of accomplished actors.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Rip Torn gives his best performance in years.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

A slow seduction.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

I despised the character of Alan James so sincerely that I had to haul back at one point to remind myself that, hey, I've met Rip Torn and he's a nice guy and he's only acting.

Variety Todd McCarthy

A muted but nicely observed study of a Russian woman's gradual estrangement from her domineering Memphis music-legend husband.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

It's Korzun's film, and she is in complete control of her character, never divulging too much of the haunted woman under the studied facade of American hotsiness.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

A drab, minor-key melodrama.

Film Threat Jeremy Mathews

Repetitive interaction between characters in an aimless story can't hold up the film's weight, and it eventually collapses on its noble attempt to capture life's frustrations and compromises.

Empire Patrick Peters

Rip Torn and Darren Burrows respectively over- and underplay their hands in this archly restrained Memphis melodrama.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

John B. gave it a2:
I can't imagine how this film received so many good reviews. (best drama at Sundance-you must be kidding!) It is a really thin, depressing little story that goes nowhere. The relationships between the characters are not in any way believable or interesting, and even the sex scenes were poorly done. [***SPOILERS***] The final scene was representative of the entire film-the female lead walks away from the car-no resolution, no closure, no reason to know what will happen to the characters, and even worse, no reason to care.The director is obviously new at filmaking, and needs more experience. I'm only sorry I had to sit through one of his early learning experiences, because it was boring and worth nothing.

Brian C. gave it a9:
Dynamite acting pulls this several notches above the pack.. Rip Torn is memorable.

Francisco M. gave it a10:
Rip Torn gives an amazing performance. I really enjoyed the film.

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Forty Shades of Blue First Look Pictures

Forty Shades of Blue
First Look Pictures