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On_Line

EMAILPRINTIndican Pictures

On_Line reviews
36
9.2 User Score:

Generally unfavorable reviews

Based on 16 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 4 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Drama

Written by: Andrew Osborne
Jed Weintrob

Directed by: Jed Weintrob

Release Date:
Theatrical: June 27, 2003
DVD: February 17, 2004

Running Time: 86 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: Not Rated

Starring Josh Hamilton, Harold Perrineau Jr., Isabel Gillies, John Fleck, Vanessa Ferlito, Eric Millegan, and Liz Owens

On_Line captures a world in which culture intersects with technology and fuses into a new paradigm for personal relationships. (Jed Weintrob)

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...

70

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A fine example of digital filmmaking, and Weintrob and his co-writer, Andrew Osborne, manage to raise some serious issues regarding the Internet without taking themselves too seriously.

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63

Premiere Laine Ewen

The movie falls flat at the end, unnecessarily linking all of the characters in what seems to be an attempt to show how it really is a small world after all.

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60

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Weintrob's background in interactive media keeps the film's technology unusually current, but his predictable tongue-clucking over Internet relationships places him squarely in the Luddite camp.

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60

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

There's nothing unconventional or daring about On_Line, but considering how cheap it undoubtedly was to make, the acting, writing and direction all stand up pretty well; this is more intelligent and better structured than at least half the Hollywood movies I see.

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50

Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder

Faces the same problem of all sex-themed films, in that cinematic sex is often unsexy.

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50

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Acted with enough zest by its cast to give these not especially endearing people a poignant human dimension.

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50

Boston Globe Janice Page

Weintrob's stylish visuals mimic Web technologies, which succeed in making his characters seem all the more removed from reality. Now if someone would find a way to equip theater seats with a ''delete'' key, we could be rid of them completely.

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50

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Weintrob's shallow analysis of virtual reality might have been more resonant in the mid-'90s, but he seems well aware that some things are timeless: By the end of his film, he has firmly shifted focus, concentrating far less on the cyber than on the sex.

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50

TV Guide Ken Fox

The film is hardly profound, but the form perfectly fits the content..

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50

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

The film's redeeming feature is that it knows how sad these people are, and finds the correct solution to their problems: They meet in the flesh.

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30

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

As the characters mix and mingle, pouring out their tales of woe online and fumbling real-life connections, Weintrob leaves no cliché unturned in getting to root causes of behavior.

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30

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Most of the action in this 2001 indie drama takes place on computer screens, with grainy faces framed by sharp little boxes; the 21st-century conceit is topical enough but the characters and their problems couldn't be more stale.

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25

New York Post Megan Lehmann

It's really just about a bunch of pathetic losers whiling away the hours with their hands jammed down their pants.

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20

Washington Post Desson Thomson

There's something so familiar and commonplace about this story and its characters...it's hard to get particularly thrilled.

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20

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Indifferently written, passably acted, resourcefully shot in video with enlivening splashes of local color.

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0

San Francisco Chronicle C.W. Nevius

Listless, self-absorbed slackers stare into computer monitors, groan about their lives and moan during cyber sex in On_Line. It makes you wonder, is there is a market for soft-porn movies for lonely geeks? Isn't that what computers are for in the first place?

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes

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

Marc L. gave it a 7:
A few smart filmmaking ideas, otherwise rates a "worth watching on video" ranking.

Brandon B. gave it a 10:
Incredible!

Ricky D. gave it a 10:
Thrilling!

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