| 91 |
Entertainment Weekly
Linklater has hardly been a slacker this year. I'll take the tricky confrontational babble of Tape over some of the gauzier soliloquies in ''Waking Life,'' but either way, he's a filmmaker in love with the music of talk, and let's bless him for that.
|
| 90 |
New York Magazine
Linklater must have recognized a kindred spirit when he read Belber's play. He's given us a reality-fantasy game, a psychodrama, a harangue, and a detective story all rolled into one.
|
| 90 |
Variety
Emphasis on its combustible emotions, suspense and surprising humor should help draw sophisticated audiences who, once lured, will quickly find themselves hooked for the duration.
|
| 89 |
Austin Chronicle
This is what great dialogue -- and by extension great movies -- is made of.
|
| 88 |
Chicago Sun-Times
The writing, acting and direction are so convincing that at some point I stopped thinking about the constraints and started thinking about the movie's freedoms.
|
| 88 |
Boston Globe
Smart, unpredictable, and alive with the energies of actors who clearly are enjoying being stretched by their material.
|
| 88 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
A super-taut and superbly acted three-character piece.
|
| 80 |
Slate
No wonder Hawke was so hot to pass the script onto Linklater. He's superb, by the way.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Thoroughly engrossing.
|
| 80 |
Chicago Reader
None of the characters emerges as very sympathetic.
|
| 80 |
The New York Times
In portraying this threesome, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Uma Thurman give the most psychologically acute performances of their film careers.
|
| 80 |
Village Voice
The movie takes shape as an entertaining psychological armwrestle between rank belligerence and blustery condescension.
|
| 75 |
Christian Science Monitor
Linklater keeps it lively with imaginative camerawork and razor-sharp editing.
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Hawke is the movie's revelation.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
Tape may not be a great movie, but it's a great demonstration of creativity within severe limitations.
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
An entertaining, post-modern mulling of the nature of truth, and whether truth is ever so fixed that it can be captured on tape.
|
| 67 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Unfortunately can't transcend its theatrical roots and the actors, good as they are, seem like they're grandstanding.
|
| 63 |
New York Post
For all of Linklater's acrobatic camera moves, you never quite escape the feeling you're watching a barely adapted TV version of a somewhat gimmicky stage play.
|
| 60 |
New Times (L.A.)
For three jerks bitching in a box, Tape makes the most of its minimalism. At its best, it's Betrayal for the Breakfast Club set.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
The action is confined to a single set and atmosphere is appropriately claustrophobic, but the image quality is harsh and flat. This accentuates the oppressive meanness of Vince's hotel room, but makes for some unpleasant viewing.
|
| 60 |
Washington Post
The smart but slight film implodes under the weight of its own "excessive linguistic pressure."
|
| 60 |
Film Threat
Anthony Miele
Overall, Tape is an interestingly staged play that, with the proper actors could have made a great film, instead of an adequate one.
|
| 58 |
Portland Oregonian
The best thing about the film is the acting of the guys.
|
| 50 |
Baltimore Sun
Despite its adrenalized actors, Tape is a tired return to the roots of the American indie movement's popular surge a dozen years ago. It could have been called "sex, lies and audiotape."
|
| 40 |
LA Weekly
A tedious exercise in ethical hand wringing.
|
| 20 |
Washington Post
A typical student film with its arty angles, bad lighting and pretentious observations.
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