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71
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70
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65
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64
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64
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63
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61
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60
Traitor
57
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55
House Bunny, The
54
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
54
Get Smart
53
Sex and the City: The Movie
53
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52
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51
Mamma Mia!
51
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49
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47
Swing Vote
47
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43
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42
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36
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36
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35
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35
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34
Happening, The
31
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26
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24
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19
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15
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83
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82
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81
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80
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80
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80
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79
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78
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78
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77
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76
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75
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75
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74
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74
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73
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73
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72
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72
Transsiberian
72
I.O.U.S. A
71
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71
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71
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70
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67
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67
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66
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66
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66
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66
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65
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64
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63
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61
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61
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25
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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Undertow
United Artists / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corporation
FILM:
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 |

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.

90
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Despite a few narrative confusions, I found it pure magic.

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.

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.

75
Philadelphia Inquirer
Steven Rea
Undertow has the plain, stark, disturbing quality that marked the original "Cape Fear" and "In Cold Blood."

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.

75
Miami Herald
Rene Rodriguez
It's a dreamy Southern gothic, a la "Night of the Hunter," with an emphasis on the dreamy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

70
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
However cloying, the movie creates a powerful vortex. It's surprisingly visceral-at times almost thrilling.

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.

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.

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.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
The truth is that Undertow is like a conventional Hollywood movie operating on half its cylinders.

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.

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.

50
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
It's no go. Green and Gothic make for a clumsy fit.

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.

50
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Loses momentum midway into the boys' journey.

50
TV Guide
Maitland McDonagh
This southern-fried mess of poetic crime-movie cliches is redeemed by standout performances.

50
Variety
Scott Foundas
A deep-fried piece of Southern Gothic that wears its unpleasantness like a merit badge.

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.

50
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
Despite picturesque episodes and nicely observed characters, the film lacks suspense.

40
The Hollywood Reporter
Kirk Honeycutt
The naturalistic style of the film is completely at odds with the hokey melodrama.

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.

30
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
It's just sort of trying.


The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 17 User Votes
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