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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.
|
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands
Sony Pictures Classics
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for language
Starring
Robert Carlyle,
Vanessa Feltz,
Ricky Tomlinson,
Kathy Burke,
Vicki Patterson,
Shirley Henderson,
Finn Atkins, Kelly Thresher,
and
Rhys Ifans
Patterned after a spaghetti western, this is the story of a small time crook (Carlyle) who returns to his hometown in the English Midlands to try to win back the heart of his ex-lover, who is being pursued by another man.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Paul Fraser
Shane Meadows
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Shane Meadows
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD:
Video: February 10, 2004
Theatrical: August 29, 2003
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
UK / Germany / Netherlands |
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
Variety
Derek Elley
Marvelously involving family saga.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It evokes the atmosphere of a Sergio Leone Western, sneaking up under the movie's human comedy and adding a smile.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Charming family story.
70
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Always predictable in its outcome, but it still retains a certain charm, mostly because of Meadows's cheerful sympathy and affection for his motley crew of characters.
70
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Sharply drawn and well-acted.
70
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
What really separates "Midlands" from Leone's desiccated, terse genre work is Mr. Meadows's doting attention to his characters' decency. It gives a demonstrative bittersweetness to a likable but small story.
67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
There are instances when the filmmaker tries for Western iconography and settles for ''Full Monty'' ingratiation.
63
New York Post
Megan Lehmann
Just Brit filmmaker Shane Meadows having some fun with the conventions of the spaghetti western.
63
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Pure bangers-and-mash realism: a spotty yet ingratiating working-class farce that suggests a Mike Leigh movie with opera buffa tendencies.
63
Chicago Tribune
Loren King
Meadows clearly has a flair for working with actors and for depicting the rough-and-tumble of ordinary provincial lives. If he could go just a bit deeper, the truly great Midlands movie just might surface.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Stephen Cole
The film's best players can all be found in the supporting cast.
60
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Often seems like a Mike Leigh movie viewed in a fun-house mirror.
60
Village Voice
Jessica Winter
There are pages missing from this fable: Meadows reports that his financiers asked him to cut one-quarter of his original script just before production began, and his fondness for long takes sits uneasily beside the apparent gaps in the narrative.
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
It's an interesting experiment that doesn't quite work.
50
Slate
David Edelstein
The sheer novelty of the enterprise is probably why Once Upon a Time in the Midlands has gotten so many rave reviews when it's actually sort of … middling.
50
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
This movie's just so-so, but at its heart lies a true leading lady.
50
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
The story, which feels more like a sprawl of television episodes than a film, is a little tedious to sit through.
50
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Crust
It's a compelling and ambitious idea, but one that misfires because of its underwhelming characters and slack storytelling.
50
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
A movie saved by great acting.
50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Midlands finds some measure of success in its use of regular, real-looking people -- as opposed to the oddly glamorous characters who turn up in most romantic comedies -- but it's as though the writer used up all the personality traits before he got to Shirley.
50
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
In the end, Meadows' film lacks the bite it needs to make us care about this oddball trio, endearing though they are.
40
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
The complications are predictable, as is the resolution; what keeps the film from sinking into its own inconsequentiality is the throaty-voiced Henderson, who can make the most preposterous behavior ring absolutely true.
38
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
After 45 minutes of incomparable boredom, the movie gets slightly better when it stops reaching for cheap yuks and lets the actors do what they do well.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
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Chad S. gave it a 7:
