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Shortbus
Metascore
64 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 27
  3. Negative: 1 out of 27
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  1. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    83
    Shortbus is nothing if not over-the-top, replete with consummated sex acts, both gay and straight.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    83
    Developed by Mitchell and the actors, the characters don't always seem consistent from moment to moment, but a sharp sense of humor and comfortable performances by a committed and--it must be said--remarkably limber cast help smooth over the rough edges.
  3. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    80
    The boldest provocation of Mitchell's sweet, tender and gently funny film may be its exuberant celebration of community and togetherness at a cultural moment rife with fatalism and disconnect.
  4. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    If there is such a thing as hard-core with a soft heart, this is it.
  5. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Phillips
    75
    It's refreshing to see a non-mainstream movie that wears its heart and lust on its sleeve, and has anything but violence on its mind.
  6. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    75
    Shortbus is, first and foremost, an experiment -- an accessible, audience-friendly movie about love and sex in which the screen doesn't fade to black once the actors start taking off their clothes.
  7. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    75
    Mitchell's adventurous, big- hearted, pansexual mosaic of New Yorkers looking for love and orgasms (not necessarily in that order), is a rare example of a nonporn film that doesn't exploit graphic sex as a gimmick.
  8. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    A darkly comic trifle that follows in the footsteps of such films as Catherine Breillat's "Romance" (2000), "The Brown Bunny" (2003) and Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs" (2004) by incorporating hard-core sex into a nonpornographic narrative.
  9. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    75
    In Shortbus, the impish writer-director John Cameron Mitchell does the unthinkable: He puts the joy back in movie sex.
  10. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    75
    Mitchell's energy and occasional ingenuity make Shortbus an engaging viewing experience, provided you can stomach it.
  11. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    70
    The sex is the most unremarkable thing about it. What surprised me most about this gentle-spirited sprawl of a movie, set in post-9/11 New York City, is what I can only call the friendly, Midwestern quality of the filmmaking.
  12. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Jim Ridley
    70
    There's something refreshingly frisky and celebratory about Shortbus that offsets its flaws. It's a triple-X midnight movie with a heart of squarest gold.
  13. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    70
    An ode to the joy and sweet release of sex, the film manages to be a sincere, modest political venture that finds humor where you might least expect it, notably in a ménage à trois featuring a cheeky rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."
  14. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    67
    The quest for sexual happiness is a radical notion in these repressive times, as well as a legitimate basis for storytelling, but Shortbus doesn't quite delve as deeply as it ought into its characters' emotions.
  15. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Some viewers will call the whole business pornography, though it doesn't really qualify. The sex is blunt and enthusiastic, but arousing it ain't. In fact, when Shortbus arrives on DVD, viewers may be fast-forwarding through the sex to get to the acting.
  16. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    60
    Though it flirts with the hard-core, there is something strangely flaccid about Shortbus, a ragged, uneven quality that, however purposeful, makes it feel less than fully formed.
  17. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    60
    Shortbus tends to work better in its first, comic half, than in its second, more serious stretch, where the characters' trials and tribulations flirt with soap opera. The actors, formidable with their clothes off, aren't always as expressive fully dressed.
  18. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    60
    Unquestionably the most sexually graphic American narrative feature ever made outside the realm of the porn industry, John Cameron Mitchell's ambitious attempt to merge his characters' active sexual lives with more conventional emotional content is playfully and provocatively entertaining for roughly the first half, but loses staying power thereafter when investment in the uncompelling characters' problems is requested.
  19. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    58
    Shortbus is chipper, it's fresh, it emits a distinct musk of controversy. I'll take the longbus.
  20. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    50
    The film lacks the depth and discipline of Mitchell's first film venture, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which makes Shortbus a real disappointment.
  21. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    50
    Shortbus suffers from a vague, ad lib-y script and a cast that, while hardly shy, isn't exactly charismatic.
  22. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    50
    Although Shortbus doesn't work as porn (and I don't believe it's intended to), it also doesn't work as a serious drama. The storyline is juvenile and the characters remain poorly developed and incomplete.
  23. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Kate Taylor
    50
    For all the carnality on offer here, Mitchell and his cast seem ambivalent about sex.
  24. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    50
    While the film has visual verve, its faux-Fellini finale only underscores how remote, repetitive, uninvolving and contrived the whole enterprise is.
  25. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    50
    It runs out of energy before the end.
  26. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    40
    The premise -- a roundelay of New Yorkers looking for connection, or to escape it -- feels tired, and Mitchell's portrayal of sex as the ultimate vehicle for transcendence, self-knowledge and healing, while conveyed with authentic sweetness, seems shockingly naive.
  27. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    25
    Mitchell may be another Russ Meyer -- a dubious honor -- but he's no Tony Kushner.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.6 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 67 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 36
  3. Negative: 5 out of 36
  1. ScottF.
    10
    The wild and varied range of reactions elicited by this movie demonstrate that it does indeed strike a chord. Watch it and be moved.
  2. BranH
    10
    This movie's graphic representation of sex will upset many, and as a result the film will be viewed as - indeed, as we can already see, it is being viewed as - polarizing. It's a shame, though, that it's "porno" content is getting so much press. Shortbus is a richly layered, well-directed, and, frankly, well-acted film that eschews traditional conventions of characterization and narrative in favor of something strikingly more familiar: real life. In Shortbus, our 3 leads examine their identities and their personal growth through various lenses, sex being one of those. Shortbus examines the conventional and non-conventional approaches we take to self-understanding and emotional growth in sincere, warm, and, I think, very true ways. John Cameron Mitchell gives himself all the tools he needs to examine our experience - including sexuality - and infuses them with genuine confusion, humor, and bliss. This doesn't look or play out like Hollywood acting or direction; it plays out like life. Which is probably why a lot of people won't get it.… Full Review »
  3. Halfwelshman
    10
    You'll never see another film quite like Shortbus. It's a rom-com, a heady emotional drama and a study of sex and desire in one, all broken up by quite graphic sex scenes that wouldn't look out of place in pornography. The way in which the sex scenes are performed (i.e. for real), isn't a criticism, on the contrary, after witnessing the first few instances of passion, these scenes lose their shock factor and become woven into the fabric of the film as a whole. Shooting these scenes for real also has an interesting side effect - it allows the actors to introduce a liberal doses of improvised humour to these situations, humour which would be almost impossible to pull off if these moments were simulated. Every scene in the film is a miniature character piece, and it's a testament to the skills of the actors that they've managed to instill their characters with so much depth. The cast appear to be effortlessly natural, and it was entirely left up to them to flesh-out their respective characters and story-lines, therefore the film feels pleasingly organic and completely believable. Despite the flexible nature of the narrative, the plot never loses focus, everything is tied together by quirky, animated sequences which sweep through an abstract version of New York, and the film builds towards an extremely pleasing symbolic, yet emotionally grounded finale. The film isn't just about love, or even lust, it's really about coming to terms with who you are, and exploring your own mind and body. Shortbus isn't all frolicking about with naughty bits on show, either. At points it touches upon some extremely dark issues, and handles these with maturely and sensitively whilst at the same time using them for the maximum dramatic potential that they offer. It's one of the finest examples of collaborative filmmaking in history, and it's also probably the best film about sex that's ever been made.… Full Review »
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