Ivansxtc
Metascore
67 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    100
    A remarkable film.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    100
    Director Bernard Rose has created a committed, intelligent and fascinating piece of work with no irony about it.
  3. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Ted Shen
    100
    Huston's performance is spellbinding. And the naturally lit digital cinematography (by Rose and Ron Forsythe) is both poetic and harrowingly intimate in depicting Ivan's impending death.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: John Petrakis
    75
    This cynical film paints a hugely unflattering portrait of life in Hollywood's fast lane. I have no way of knowing exactly how much is exaggeration, but I've got a creepy feeling that the film is closer to the mark than I want to believe.
  5. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    The acting is uneven, but Huston's performance gains eerie intensity as the tale moves from sensationalistic melodrama to humanistic tragedy.
  6. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    70
    To the degree that ivans xtc. works, it's thanks to Huston's revelatory performance.
  7. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    70
    Contrived as this may sound, Mr. Rose's updating works surprisingly well. -- the story's sympathetic, tragic sense of the fragility of individual dignity is, if anything, made even more haunting in this version.
  8. New Times (L.A.)
    Reviewed by: David Ehrenstein
    70
    Shot on High Definition video, this exceptionally well-made but exceedingly bleak peek at tinseltown would be unbearable were it not for the sympathetic performance of Danny Huston.
  9. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    Its high-definition video images -- are coated with a convincing sheen of disgust, and Huston's performance is riveting.
  10. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    60
    Boldly engineering a collision between tawdry B-movie flamboyance and grandiose spiritual anomie, Rose's film, true to its source material, provides a tenacious demonstration of death as the great equalizer.
  11. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    60
    Achieves a certain poignancy through its sensitivity to mortality in a context where illness and death are often thought of primarily in terms of gossip, blown deals and lost money.
  12. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    It is both inside-baseball and self-parody, exposing a world that is just as ruthless and shallow as we've been shown it is in films like "The Player" and "Permanent Midnight."
  13. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    40
    Not enough to save ivansxtc from, of all things, dullness.
  14. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    38
    Behind the glitz, Hollywood is sordid and disgusting. Quelle surprise!

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