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Undertow
United Artists / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation

Undertow reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 63 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.3 out of 10
based on 30 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for violence

Starring Jamie Bell, Devon Alan, Josh Lucas, Dermot Mulroney, Kristen Stewart, Shiri Appleby, Robert Longstreet, and Eddie Rouse

Director David Gordon Green marries action, dirt, sweat and menace as he spins a tale of the violent legacy between two generations of brothers. (United Artists)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Joe Conway
David Gordon Green
Lingard Jervey (story)
 
DIRECTED BY: David Gordon Green  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: April 26, 2005 
Theatrical: October 22, 2004 
RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

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...

100
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Green takes us to that place where we keep feelings that we treasure, but are a little afraid of.
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90
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
Despite a few narrative confusions, I found it pure magic.
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88
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
For anyone who likes classic, offbeat American moviemaking, in the rural-thriller genre from "Moonrise" to "Macon County Jail," Undertow is one to check. Seething with violence, bleeding with lyricism, it's a poem from the junk heap, a cry from the swamp.
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80
Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The movie builds slowly to its grinding climax, and the suspense -- the standard by which a thriller must primarily be judged -- is first-rate.
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75
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Undertow has the plain, stark, disturbing quality that marked the original "Cape Fear" and "In Cold Blood."
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75
ReelViews James Berardinelli
Although there is violence and danger, this is less about the chase than it is about the relationship between the siblings.
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75
Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
It's a dreamy Southern gothic, a la "Night of the Hunter," with an emphasis on the dreamy.
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75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Taking great artistic chances in storytelling and performance style, Green finally fulfills the promise he showed in his fine 2000 drama "George Washington" as a terrific builder of mood, atmosphere, and psychological suspense.
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75
Premiere Glenn Kenny
In equal parts powerful and peculiar, the film is not my favorite of Green’s, but it helps solidify his position as one of the most visionary young directors around.
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75
New York Post Megan Lehmann
Conforms to many of the tropes of a formula thriller but, aided by an evocative Philip Glass score and Tim Orr's beautifully naturalistic cinematography, it transcends the genre.
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70
The New York Times Stephen Holden
As with the 70's films of Terrence Malick, one of Undertow's producers, the more intoxicated it becomes with rural desolation and fecundity, the more deeply in touch it puts you with its characters' souls.
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70
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
The result is a movie that doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, yet some of those parts connect deeply anyway.
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70
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Undertow may prove the least immediately satisfying of Green's films, but it remains an achievement, emotionally rich and rife with biblical and mythic undertones.
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70
Village Voice J. Hoberman
However cloying, the movie creates a powerful vortex. It's surprisingly visceral-at times almost thrilling.
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70
Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
To call Undertow a '70s-style revenge movie is accurate, but those unfamiliar with Green who expect a typical genre picture may wonder why it takes so long to get to the action.
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70
Film Threat Don R. Lewis
Green makes you think and his films are so quiet and subtle, you almost find yourself in the film, wrapped up in the moment.
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67
Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Did I fall in love with Undertow? Not in the least. But I liked it alright, and amidst the mediocrity, even rot, that constitutes 98% of contemporary American movies, that'll do fine.
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67
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The truth is that Undertow is like a conventional Hollywood movie operating on half its cylinders.
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63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Green may be right to avoid the melodramatic waves of the conventional thriller. But, if so, he needs to dive a lot deeper than this -- there's just not enough under in Undertow.
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60
Empire Anna Smith
While the quirky structure could be taken as a bold move, the story still feels frustratingly incomplete, rendering the preceding hour or so a tantalising glimpse at what could have been.
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50
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
It's no go. Green and Gothic make for a clumsy fit.
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50
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
It's an exercise in 1970s mood. But all the film does is conjure, channel, and allude, until there's really no movie of Green's own for an audience to grab onto.
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50
San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
Loses momentum midway into the boys' journey.
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50
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
This southern-fried mess of poetic crime-movie cliches is redeemed by standout performances.
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50
Variety Scott Foundas
A deep-fried piece of Southern Gothic that wears its unpleasantness like a merit badge.
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50
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Undertow becomes unbearably imitative and predictable. It's a kids-in-peril B horror movie in the guise of an art film.
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50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
Despite picturesque episodes and nicely observed characters, the film lacks suspense.
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40
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
The naturalistic style of the film is completely at odds with the hokey melodrama.
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40
LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Undertow seems to be straining to say something at once tragic and heartwarming about fathers, sons and brothers, but I'm damned if I know what it is.
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30
Washington Post Desson Thomson
It's just sort of trying.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.3 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ryan F. gave it a2:
One of the most inane movies I've seen. Jamie Bell's performance is the only reason it gets any points at all.

john r gave it a10:
Folks, you just don't get it. I live in the south, where people say and do crazy things, and too often die tragically. Melodrama and death are centrpieces of southern culture. Also, the relationships between the adult characters are spot on (not bad acting).

K. A. gave it a10:
Completely mesmerizing mood piece. Wonderully insightful and original; come on people! open your eyes.

Tony B. gave it a4:
Well-acted...that's the best thing about this slow and ponderous film. The plot has too many contrivances for its own good, and the cinematography, while frequently quite effective, sometimes becomes pretentious.

Scott W. gave it a2:
Poorly written. Poorly acted. Poorly directed. Like a band playing out of tune with a conductor who has a tin ear. I'm surprised that this wasn't universally panned. A southern lit attempt that is utterly lacking in nuance.

Eldon gave it a3:
I see some of the nice things the "critics" are saying about this movie, Roger Ebert I have respect for, but Roger and the rest of them have missed the mark on this one. The only thing worthy of viewing in this movie is Jamie Bell. He's the only magic the movie has. Josh Lucas is terrible in this movie. His acting looks dialed in and flat, he's a wash in this one. I could say a lot more and I won't. So, unless you are a huge Jamie Bell fan and you have to see everything he does, SKIP this movie.

Greg gave it a4:
Not bad acting by actors portraying creeps. This movie was slow and dour and unengaging.

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