|

Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

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.
|
Quitting
Sony Pictures Classics
MPAA RATING: R for drug content
Starring
Xiuling Chai,
Fengsen Jia,
Hongshen Jia,
Tong Wang,
and
Shun Xing
Explores one man's journey, from the cutting edge of China's artistic movement in the early 90's, through a period of conflict with himself and his parents, to a mental institution and finally to the quest to rediscover himself and his family. (Sony Pictures Classics)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Yang Zhang
Xin Huo
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Yang Zhang
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 4, 2003
Video: March 4, 2003
Theatrical: September 13, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
112 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
China |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Mandarin Chinese (with English subtitles) |
Original title in China "Zuo Tian," which translates as "Yesterday"

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
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The total effect is mesmerizing, an eye-opening tour of modern Beijing culture in a journey of rebellion, retreat into oblivion and return.

90
New Times (L.A.)
David Ehrenstein
Beautifully made, deeply upsetting drama.
88
Chicago Tribune
Patrick Z. McGavin
Daring and beautifully made, Zhang Yang's Quitting plays like a Chinese "Rebel Without a Cause."

80
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
With Quitting, he (Zhang) has removed sentimentality from the theme and presented it with unflinching honesty, a quality he shares with his fearless cast.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Daring and complex. At 112 minutes, it might be 15 minutes too long, but this is not enough to detract from its impact as a probing and universal contemporary drama.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
It's downbeat material and it tends to drag a bit, but Jia's performance is so unsparing and intense -- and the film so compassionate and chaste in its approach to a life lost and recovered -- that Quitting ultimately satisfies.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Quitting begins to seem intriguing in concept. Now comes the best news: It's just as compelling in execution.

75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
If only "reality" TV was as realistic as Quitting.

70
Film Threat
Tim Merrill
Particularly wrenching in its depiction of the father-son relationship.

63
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
It is a brave experiment, based on life and using actors who play themselves, but it buys into the whole false notion that artists are somehow too brilliant to be sober.

60
TV Guide
Ken Fox
The entire cast is extraordinarily good -- many of them are, after all, actors by trade -- but throughout, Zhang is keen to remind his audience that this is only a dramatization.

60
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
Because Quitting admits its basic falsehood up front, the film is never emotionally affecting, but Jia's participation in this confrontation of his past shows remarkable courage and honesty, especially when his behavior doesn't inspire much sympathy.

50
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
An intriguing idea undermined by a lackluster follow-through.

50
Variety
Derek Elley
What gives Quitting its freshness is its setting in a country that often denies it has such problems and the decision to anchor the film strongly within the Chinese family fabric.

50
LA Weekly
John Patterson
Whether Quitting will prove absorbing to American audiences is debatable: After all, it's not like we don't have enough rehab stories of our own, and Jia often comes across as a sullen, unreachable brat.

50
Chicago Reader
J.R. Jones
Unfortunately Jia --a rather limited actor, judging from the movies excerpted here -- has trouble either articulating or projecting the existential crisis that ultimately landed him in a mental institution, which leaves the emotional center of the film inert.

50
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
If Quitting isn't worthy of affection exactly, it's worthy of respect.

50
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Alternately grueling and soporific, Quitting is a movie about addiction that demands the viewer also give something up.

30
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
Unfortunately, the experience of actually watching the movie is less compelling than the circumstances of its making.


The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|