| 83 |
Portland Oregonian
Possesses the open-ended, continual off-kilterness of Shepard theater.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
Chuck Wilson
Demands full attention, if only for the pleasure of watching great actors mine Shepard's harsh, beautiful language for all it's worth.
|
| 70 |
TNT RoughCut
Spencer H. Abbott
Many may find the ultimate drive behind the main characters (especially Nolte's) to be a misguided, feeble and disappointing payoff at best.
|
| 70 |
Variety
An unbeatable cast lends satisfying emotional texture.
|
| 70 |
TV Guide
This stylized tale of guilt and retribution is a surprisingly sleek and affecting drama.
|
| 63 |
Chicago Tribune
A somewhat bewildering and unsatisfying film that nevertheless contains more inspired moments and brilliant scenes than many movies we call successes.
|
| 60 |
Salon.com
Warchus seems as at ease with the complexity of the style as he is with directing actors.
|
| 50 |
Los Angeles Times
While it's entertaining, it's not as persuasive as it needs to be to succeed fully.
|
| 50 |
Time
Curiously, if fitfully, intriguing.
|
| 50 |
New York Daily News
Star-packed fiasco.
|
| 50 |
Dallas Observer
Proves only intermittently engaging as its twisted plot loses energy and becomes confusing in the latter half.
|
| 50 |
The New York Times
Far from being a typical Hollywood desecration of a difficult play, it stays true to the work's quirky, renegade spirit.
|
| 50 |
USA Today
It's an awkward jumble whose only value is as a forum for movie junkies to track the progress of half-a-dozen screen careers at once.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
A confounding and unsatisfying film.
|
| 42 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
As has been the case with most of Shepard's plays, transfer to the movies spells doom.
|
| 40 |
Rolling Stone
A promise unfulfilled.
|
| 38 |
New York Post
A non-starter.
|
| 38 |
Miami Herald
Feels static and constricted, its intensity dulled by overreliance on dialogue.
|
| 38 |
Chicago Sun-Times
A long slog through perplexities and complexities.
|
| 32 |
Mr. Showbiz
Richard T. Jameson
The switch of medium hasn't reinvigorated the soil or resulted in a film with any compelling reason for being.
|
| 30 |
Village Voice
A decked-out mediocrity with a high-octane cast.
|
| 25 |
Entertainment Weekly
Stumbling adaptation of a Sam Shepard play about men, horses, chance, and lies.
|
| 25 |
Charlotte Observer
Atmosphere goes only so far in a story where the major characters fade from memory.
|
| 20 |
Film.com
Tired, overcomplicated mix of macho bullshit.
|
| 10 |
Chicago Reader
An extravagant waste of resources.
|
