|
New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
American Rhapsody, An
Paramount Classics
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some violent content and thematic material
Starring
Nastassja Kinski,
Scarlett Johansson,
Tony Goldwyn,
Ági Bánfalvy,
and
Lisa Jane Persky
Set in the 1950s in the United States, this film focuses on a young Hungarian immigrant coming to terms with her past.
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Éva Gardos
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Éva Gardos
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: January 22, 2002
Video: January 22, 2002
Theatrical: August 10, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
103 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA / Hungary |
Recipient of the Best Feature (Audience Award) and Perrier Bubbling Under Award (promising first-time director) at the 2001 Nantucket Film Festival
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
75
Chicago Tribune
Loren King
The heartfelt truthfulness of Gardos' tale, and the performances of all leads, particularly Johansson, make the film a powerful account of the universal search for identity and the meaning of "home."
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Nastassja Kinski, in one of her most affecting performances, does much to convey the turmoil going in her soul.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Although there's a certain connect-the-dots quality to the storytelling, there's no denying the care and craftsmanship that Gardos has brought to her debut film.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Made with care and respect, American Rhapsody manages to skirt the edge of excessive sentiment without falling victim to it.
67
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Has an unerring eye for the banal intricacies of 1950s pre-planned suburban neighborhoods, à la Levittown.
60
The New York Times
Dave Kehr
Ms. Gardos is not a particularly flavorful filmmaker, but she is an honest one.
60
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Its emotional sweep is ultimately undercut by murky characterizations and generic plotting.
60
New Times (L.A.)
Gregory Weinkauf
Distinguishes itself by its subtlety and good taste. Even if we catch a hint of gypsy music on the soundtrack -- or glimpse a disturbing American neighbor lady -- Gardos steadfastly guards us from caricature. She wants to keep it real.
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
The result is a heartfelt film brimming with ideas and passion but hampered by a literal approach that douses the emotional heat.
50
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Gardos -- treats it competently, though without much freshness or imagination.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
They don't get more frustrating than American Rhapsody, a near-great film for about an hour that changes into a self-indulgent mess.
50
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
Two-thirds of the way through, it falls apart into TV-movie-of-the-week land, even with the rhapsodic Nastassja Kinski in the lead.
50
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Heartfelt but often plodding and awkward, the movie feels like a somewhat subpar Sunday night TV movie.
50
Variety
Eddie Cockrell
Calculated yet undeniably skillful melodrama.
50
TV Guide
Frank Lovece
The glammed-up Kinski looks the same age throughout and only has three expressions: angry, wistful, and someone's-killed-my-dog.
50
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
It's a case of the heart being in the right place, but the script getting in the way.
50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Rhapsody fails to completely hook you, perhaps because the events happen so quickly you barely have time to sort out the characters.
50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
It's in the teenage section where the film goes seriously wrong and veers from an absorbing family story.
50
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
For a movie with such a vibrant real-life base, An American Rhapsody is surprisingly low-impact.
40
LA Weekly
Hazel-Dawn Dumpert
While Gardos knows what to ask -- and though Kinski and Johansson both easily command attention -- the filmmaker lacks the storytelling sophistication to answer with anything but prettily rendered cliches.
40
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
The movie is a little crude for the subtlety of the emotions it plays with.
30
Village Voice
Michael Atkinson
Gardos, an experienced film editor, has little narrative sense, and decent performances (except from Kinski, who just worries and huffs around) are left out to dry.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Discuss this movie in our forums |
|
