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High Art

EMAILPRINTOctober Films

High Art reviews
73
10.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 2 votes
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Romance

Written by: Lisa Cholodenko

Directed by: Lisa Cholodenko

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 12, 1998
DVD: July 27, 2004

Running Time: 101 minutes, Color

Origin: USA / Canada

Summary

RATING: R for strong sexuality, pervasive drug use and language

Starring Radha Mitchell, Gabriel Mann, Charis Michaelson, David Thornton, Anh Duong, Ally Sheedy, Patricia Clarkson, and Helen Mendes

An award-winning romantic drama about a photo magazine editor (Mitchell) and the heroin-addicted former photo prodigy (Sheedy) with whom she falls in love.

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...

91

Entertainment Weekly Beth Pinsker

Who knew that Brat Packer Sheedy would shine as a heroin-addicted photographer who had too much fame too early?

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90

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

What makes High Art remarkable is Cholodenko's refusal to put her characters or story through a filter, her unblinking willingness to dive right in.

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88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

So perceptive and mature it makes similar films seem flippant. The performances are on just the right note, scene after scene, for what needs to be done.

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80

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

As storytelling it isn'’t always as clean as it might be, but this 1998 first feature by writer-director Lisa Cholodenko is an interesting debut for its nuanced sense of character and its terrific sex scenes--scenes that actually serve character development for a change.

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80

Variety Emanuel Levy

Compassionate and deft as Cholodenko's helming is, pic's overall impact largely depends on its central triangle.

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80

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

To their credit, the actors immerse themselves deeply in the film's self-conscious aura. Ms. Sheedy reinvents herself as a tough, fascinating presence, while Ms. Mitchell's earnest bewilderment also serves the story well.

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80

Dallas Observer Peter Rainer

With more angst than you can shake a stick at, High Art sets a new course for the indie American film. Instead of the usual Scorsese-esque buddy confab, we have something closer to the funky Fassbinder world of marginalized, pansexual depressives.

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78

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A work that shellacs itself into your consciousness.

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75

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Sensitive acting and imaginative filmmaking help rescue the movie from potential excesses of its own.

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70

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

Though High Art has more than a few awkward touches--all the male characters take up less than one dimension, for example--it's otherwise a nicely underplayed, memorable, beautifully filmed movie.

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70

TV Guide Sandra Contreras

First-time director Lisa Cholodenko, who has made a powerful and modish film with a subtle and knowing script, is more than ably assisted by a spectacular cast.

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63

ReelViews James Berardinelli

I suppose High Art is as good a name as any for this pretentious melodrama, an often- diverting but ultimately pointless attempt to wed intellectual twaddle with a soap-opera-ish lesbian romance.

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63

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

Has a subtle magnetism, and a real human pulse, especially as it concentrates on its two main characters.

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60

Film Threat Merle Bertrand

Solid debut effort from Lisa Cholodenko.

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50

San Francisco Examiner G. Allen Johnson

Cholodenko's strategy of having the actors, in every scene -- whether it involves Lucy, the boyfriend or the Frame editors -- perform with an intonational flatness approaching monotone pretentiously undermines the effectiveness of her subject matter.

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50

San Francisco Chronicle Bob Graham

It is wonderful to see how Sheedy gives shape to this performance -- her eyes, a photographer's eyes, carefully sizing everything up. [18 June 1998, Daily Notebook, p.E1]

50

Los Angeles Times Jack Mathews

High Art is, unfortunately, full of itself and its artistic pretensions.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Buttered Popcorn gave it a 10:
Great movie. this ranks up there with a select few movies that are as funny as they are sad. I saw this movie years ago, and it really does stick with you. The reviews don't really give enough mention of a main point of this movie: drug addiction and its effects. That theme has at least as much weight in this movie as the love affair. But see this movie - it is fascinating and treats its audience with intelligence.

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