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23
American Carol, An
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36
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65
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24
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53
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51
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35
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31
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34
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64
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39
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64
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xx
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36
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53
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xx
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53
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63
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36
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35
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51
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47
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60
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71
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70
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93
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64
Wanted
27
Women, The
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
93
WALL-E
82
Dark Knight, The
79
Iron Man
78
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
73
Kung Fu Panda
72
Ghost Town
71
Tropic Thunder
71
Horton Hears a Who!
70
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
65
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
64
Wanted
64
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
64
Pineapple Express
63
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, The
62
Burn After Reading
61
Incredible Hulk, The
60
Traitor
58
Body of Lies
57
Flash of Genius
57
Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D
55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
Rocker, The
53
Lucky Ones, The
52
Longshots, The
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
49
Family That Preys, The
47
Swing Vote
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
46
Lakeview Terrace
45
Blindness
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
43
Eagle Eye
42
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
39
Nights in Rodanthe
37
Miracle at St. Anna
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
36
How to Lose Friends & Alienate People
35
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
35
Mirrors
34
Happening, The
34
My Best Friend's Girl
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
24
Love Guru, The
23
American Carol, An
15
Disaster Movie
15
College
xx
RocknRolla
xx
Express, The
xx
City of Ember
xx
Quarantine
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

85
Alexandra
xx
All of Us
53
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57
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40
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66
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74
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63
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xx
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65
August Evening
xx
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62
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81
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55
Battle in Seattle
59
Beautiful Losers
xx
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47
Before the Rains
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
xx
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63
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56
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75
Boy A
55
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xx
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61
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64
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61
Bustin' Down the Door
xx
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49
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47
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xx
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xx
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54
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41
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64
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85
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66
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33
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52
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80
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26
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64
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28
Fireproof
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
65
Flow: For Love of Water
37
Forever Strong
39
Forgiveness
82
Frozen River
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
62
Girls Rock!
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
57
Good Dick
54
Hamlet 2
xx
Happy-Go-Lucky
25
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44
Henry Poole is Here
31
Hounddog
53
Humboldt County
72
I Served the King of England
71
I.O.U.S. A
40
Igor
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
67
Jellyfish
xx
Just Buried
62
Kabluey
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
78
Last Mistress, The
52
Last Stop for Paul
70
Love Songs
xx
Lower Learning
63
Man Named Pearl, A
89
Man on Wire
62
Mister Foe
86
Momma's Man
74
Mongol
80
Moving Midway
46
My Mexican Shivah
xx
Nights and Weekends
73
Obscene
80
Order of Myths, The
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
55
Ping Pong Playa
77
Pool, The
72
Priceless
82
Rachel Getting Married
61
Red
55
Religulous
71
Roman de gare
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
51
Savage Grace
58
Save Me
72
Secret, A
45
Shoot on Sight
57
Sixty Six
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
16
Surfer, Dude
82
Tell No One
56
Then She Found Me
63
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71
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57
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72
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83
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83
U2 3D
84
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52
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79
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61
Wackness, The
xx
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54
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66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
67
XXY
55
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39
Young People F**king
75
Young@Heart
89
Man on Wire
86
Momma's Man
86
Flight of the Red Balloon, The
85
Edge of Heaven, The
85
Alexandra
84
Up the Yangtze
83
U2 3D
83
Trouble the Water
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Frozen River
81
Ballast
80
Encounters at the End of the World
80
Bigger, Stronger, Faster*
80
Order of Myths, The
80
Moving Midway
79
Visitor, The
78
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
78
Last Mistress, The
77
Pool, The
75
Young@Heart
75
Boy A
74
Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
74
Mongol
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
73
Obscene
73
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
72
Secret, A
72
Priceless
72
Transsiberian
72
I Served the King of England
71
To the Limit
71
I.O.U.S. A
71
Roman de gare
70
Love Songs
67
Patti Smith: Dream of Life
67
XXY
67
Jellyfish
66
Elegy
66
American Teen
66
When Did You Last See Your Father?
65
August Evening
65
Flow: For Love of Water
64
Brideshead Revisited
64
Duchess, The
64
Fall, The
64
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
63
Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
63
Appaloosa
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
63
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
62
Kabluey
62
Baghead
62
Girls Rock!
62
Mister Foe
61
Bustin' Down the Door
61
Wackness, The
61
Brick Lane
61
Red
59
Beautiful Losers
58
Save Me
57
Towelhead
57
Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
57
Sixty Six
57
Good Dick
56
Bottle Shock
56
Then She Found Me
55
Year of the Fish
55
Religulous
55
Bra Boys
55
Sukiyaki Western Django
55
Battle in Seattle
55
Ping Pong Playa
54
Hamlet 2
54
CSNY: Déjà Vu
54
What We Do Is Secret
53
Humboldt County
53
Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
52
Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
52
Elsa & Fred
52
Last Stop for Paul
51
Savage Grace
49
Children of Huang Shi, The
47
Before the Rains
47
Choke
46
Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
46
My Mexican Shivah
45
Shoot on Sight
44
Henry Poole is Here
41
Cthulhu
40
America the Beautiful
40
Igor
39
Forgiveness
39
Young People F**king
37
Forever Strong
33
Elite Squad
31
Hounddog
28
Fireproof
26
Everybody Wants to Be Italian
25
Hell Ride
16
Surfer, Dude
xx
Choose Connor
xx
Phoebe in Wonderland
xx
Happy-Go-Lucky
xx
All of Us
xx
Whaledreamers
xx
Nights and Weekends
xx
Bachna Ae Haseeno
xx
Ashes of Time Redux
xx
Christmas on Mars: A Fantastical Film Freakout Featuring the Flaming Lips
xx
Breakfast with Scot
xx
Goal II: Living the Dream
xx
Just Buried
xx
Beer for My Horses
xx
Lower Learning
xx
Call and Response
xx
Billy: The Early Years
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Starting Out in the Evening
Roadside Attractions
 |
|
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for sexual content, language and brief nudity
Starring
Frank Langella,
Lauren Ambrose,
Lili Taylor,
Karl Bury,
Anitha Gandhi,
Sean T. Krishnan,
Jessica Hecht,
and
Adrian Lester
All that remains for Leonard Schiller is his work. His one enduring goal in life is to finish the novel whose completion has eluded him for ten years. With his earlier books out of print, he has learned to starve himself of the desire for the success he was once so close to, though beneath this practice lies a pull for his work to be rediscovered. Schiller’s main contact to the world is through his daughter, Ariel, with whom he has settled into an amiable relationship, though he must hide his disappointment that at 39 she remains befuddled by life, still looking for love and a father for a longed-for child. Schiller’s world is shaken when Heather Wolfe, a smart, ambitious graduate student, convinces him that she can use her thesis on his work to bring him back into the literary world spotlight. (Roadside Attractions)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Fred Parness
Andrew Wagner
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Andrew Wagner
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: April 22, 2008
Theatrical: November 23, 2007
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
111 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

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
New York Magazine
David Edelstein
Above all is Langella, achingly vulnerable under layers of flesh. In one scene, alone, he eats peanut butter intensely, thoughtfully, and nothing he could do as Hamlet would seem deeper or more poetic.

100
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Intelligent, involving and conspicuously adult, Starting Out in the Evening is almost shocking in its distinctiveness, its ability to create high drama from an unlikely source.

100
The Hollywood Reporter
James Greenberg
Succeeds so beautifully because of a compelling story, great acting, intelligent writing and sensitive direction.

100
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The movie is carefully modulated to draw us deeper and deeper into the situation, and uses no contrived plot devices to superimpose plot jolts on what is, after all, a story involving four civilized people who are only trying, each in a different way, to find happiness.

100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
A rapturous, ruefully funny flight of sympathetic imagination. Featuring the first movie role for Frank Langella that ranks with his best stage parts, it's a rare kind of American movie.

91
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Andrew Wagner has made a lovely comedy of death and rebirth.

90
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
What is so remarkable about Mr. Langella is that he seems to hold Leonard’s intellectual cosmos inside him, to make it implicit in the man’s every gesture and pause.

90
Salon.com
Stephanie Zacharek
It's rare to see a movie adaptation in which a filmmaker has taken so much care in translating the odd little qualities that make a particular novel special, to preserve the complex and fragile threads of feeling between characters that are often much easier to grasp on the page.

88
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Whether this reserved, hypercautious widower can deal with the arousal she creates in him - let alone be physically able to act on it - is one of the many layers of tension that drive this unusual and absolutely riveting dance.

88
USA Today
Claudia Puig
We are slowly and mightily drawn into this intimate story, which is both intellectually stimulating and emotionally moving.

83
Christian Science Monitor
Peter Rainer
Director Andrew Wagner, adapting a novel by Brian Morton, is sometimes understated to a fault, but his work with the actors, who also include Lili Taylor as Leonard's daughter, is impeccable.

80
Film Threat
Rick Kisonak
Movies about writers are almost always romanticized affairs but Starting Out in the Evening is the rare exception. It is at once an elegy for the vanishing generation of Bellow, Cheever, Mailer and Updike and a dead on indictment of our culture’s current state.

80
The New Yorker
David Denby
Langella is superb, and Starting Out in the Evening is a classy film.

80
Newsweek
David Ansen
Like most of this refreshingly subtle film, it's not what you expect, and it's not something you've seen before.

80
Variety
Scott Foundas
Director Andrew Wagner draws topnotch work from a pro cast in Starting Out in the Evening, a wise, carefully observed chamber drama.

80
Village Voice
Ella Taylor
This wise, observant, and exquisitely tacit chamber piece complicates every May-December, academic-novel cliché in the book.

75
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
Langella delivers a master class in acting. He's playing Leonard Schiller, an aging author aching from the loss of his wife, a weak heart and literary neglect.

75
ReelViews
James Berardinelli
It's a gentle, unhurried drama about how people can connect with each other through conversation, nonverbal gestures, and writing.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Taylor also makes an impressive comeback as the conflicted daughter who instinctively distrusts Heather, but Starting Out in the Evening is first and foremost a triumph by Frank Langella.

75
Chicago Tribune
Jessica Reaves
Because the characters are richly realized and their dialogue rings true, we stick around, rooting for something like a happy ending.

75
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
If the film has a weakness, it's an ending that's so vague and open to interpretation that it's not at all clear how director Andrew Wagner ultimately wants us to feel about these self-absorbed characters and their precious literary concerns. But the performances carry the day.

75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
It never commits the sin of sentimentalizing old age, as Hollywood usually does when it deigns to admit that people over 55 exist.

75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Liam Lacey
This is a human-sized drama about people with contradictory motives, trying to help or use each other.

75
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
Fact is, Starting Out is pretty dry stuff as a movie, even as it's enlivened by vivid acting.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
A "small" movie. But in its keenly observed examination of strangers who become intimates - and of family members who remain, in part, strangers - it has big things to say.

70
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Part of Morton's achievement is to present all four people through the viewpoints of the other three; Wagner can't do that, but the performances are so nuanced that the characters remain multilayered, and they're not the sort of people we're accustomed to finding in commercial films.

67
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
It's also and most interestingly about the writing process itself, a difficult feat to pull off on film, which Wagner and co-screenwriter Fred Parnes manage to display with unvarnished realism.

63
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Taylor is effective as a woman struggling to take control of her life, but Ambrose's work feels shallow in comparison.

63
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
A gentle collection of scenes that work and scenes that don't.

63
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Intelligently acted but oddly stagnant adaptation of Brian Morton's acclaimed novel.

63
Premiere
Glenn Kenny
Starting Out never builds to the explosive climax it seems to be heading for, which I suppose is a good thing for its overall integrity, but maybe not so good for its motion-picture value.

50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
Wagner and company fail to follow Langella's primary rule of storytelling: "Follow the characters around until they do something interesting."

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Wallows in bleakness and settles for sentimental gestures.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 15 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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