'R Xmas
Metascore
55 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 11 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 5 out of 11
  3. Negative: 2 out of 11
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    80
    A lean, well-contained slice-of-life at 83 minutes, 'R Xmas finds the director making a confident return to the hard-nosed realism on which he's staked his maverick reputation.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    80
    Few directors can put loneliness on screen as persuasively or capture the eerie quiet of people waiting for something, anything to happen. It's in moments such as these, when all sense of time disappears and all that remains are bodies in motion and Ken Kelsch's limpid cinematography, that you remember just how good Ferrara can be.
  3. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    Introduces a new Ferrara -- sophisticated and restrained. It's a look that becomes him.
  4. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Dan Fienberg
    70
    R Xmas offers a poetic and profane ambiguity that's vintage Ferrara. The drug dealers are community leaders, the cops are corrupt, and the materialistic wife has unimagined emotional reserves.
  5. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    60
    Cinematographer Ken Kelsch, Ferrara's frequent collaborator, picks up the theme of overlapping lives by layering images within scenes -- the ongoing interplay of reflections and shadows is breathtaking -- and through slow, shimmering dissolves.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    60
    Like any self-respecting Ferrara film, 'R Xmas has its intimations of hellfire, yet it's a weirdly benign Christmas fable -- something like "Miracle on 134th Street."
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: David Rooney
    60
    Despite some hazy plot points, the tough, compelling drama comes together quite satisfyingly, standing alongside 1996's "The Funeral" as perhaps the most controlled and cohesive of Ferrara's uneven work of recent years.
  8. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    The title refers to the commercialization of just about everything in modern society, and Ferrara brings touches of his ornery filmmaking imagination to bear on the pessimistic parable.
  9. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Elizabeth Weitzman
    50
    Despite the intriguing potential, the end result is a queasy stalemate.
  10. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    33
    A seedy little movie with little in the way of theme, purpose, energy or wit, 'R Xmas is the latest slice-of-death drama from that earnest maestro of grub, Abel Ferrara.
  11. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    10
    Once Ice-T sticks his mug in the window of the couple's BMW and begins haranguing the wife in bad stage dialogue, all credibility flies out the window.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.1 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 7 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 0 out of 4
  1. Ice-T
    10
    My movies rock!
  2. GilbertMulroneycakesAndFriends
    6
    What the hell is that title all about? I assume I'd get it if I was blacklatinItalian American. But I'm not, so I don't. Anyway, the film. Not bad. But not great. A teensy bit gratuitous and unecessary. Watchable enough.… Full Review »
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