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Upcoming Release Calendar
38
12 Rounds Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Dead Girl, The
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MPAA RATING: R for language, grisly images and sexuality/nudity
Starring Toni Collette, Brittany Murphy, Marcia Gay Harden, Rose Byrne, James Franco, Josh Brolin, Giovanni Ribisi, Kerry Washington, Mary Steenburgen, Mary Beth Hurt, Piper Laurie, and Nick Searcy
The Dead Girl is a quintet of stories about seemingly unrelated people whose lives converge around the murder of a young woman. (First Look Pictures)
| GENRE(S): | Drama | Mystery | Suspense/Thriller |
| WRITTEN BY: | Karen Moncrieff |
| DIRECTED BY: | Karen Moncrieff |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: May 15, 2007 Theatrical: December 29, 2006 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 94 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: | USA |
Nominated, Best Director, Best Picture and Best Supporting Female (Hurt), 2007 Independent Spirit Awards
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...
The average user rating for this movie is 6.9 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Callen K. gave it a10:
A terrific movie from start to finish. The acting is wonderful throughout and the plot lines are fresh. This is a woman's movie par excellence.
Stephen S. gave it a7:
How come the critic reviews and user comments average in the 60s, as compared with the 70s scored by Blue Car, Moncrieff’s interesting but wrong-footed debut? Sure, one’s heart sinks, as CSI: Miami flashbacks occur when the technician examines the dehumanized girl on the slab. But, aided by an unexpectedly fine turn from Brittany Murphy, the troubled victim becomes much more like us in her life-altering small derangements, and we come closer to her. Not immaculately dovetailed in its semi-interlocking segments, but well shot and indicating a committed talent to follow.
Be Q. gave it a1:
This movie starts with the anticipation of good development of a story. However, it tanks at the end. This reminds me of the movie "Crash" in that is has separate vignettes of each character - but that is as close as it gets to Crash (good movie). Don't bother trying to find any answers - nothing is really related nor interconnecting - it's just garbage.
Michael L. gave it a9:
Excellent film with an excellent cast. Yes, it's unpleasant, but it's real. The dysfunction and damage family systems create can wreak havock on lives for generations to come. This is truly a horror film--with a brain, unlike Eli Roth's torture porn. Because we know these people and we know these situations. Thank God there are filmmakers with intellect who are brave enough to tell stories that effect us more deeply than watching someone dismembered by a chainsaw.
Tayborne L. gave it a3:
In the neo-indy tradition of racing to to bottom and trying to hit the most depressing note thats possible, this film succeeds. In term of being artful about it, ya, it's well made. But it still aims for the bottom, which is easy. The film makers here took the easy way out.
James M. gave it a4:
Grim, bleak and uninvolving film whose premise is better than its execution. Given the divergent, fractured narrative, those involved are given to histrionics to compensate for the inherent shallowness. Mercifully brief at 90 minutes or so, although the opening sequence is so lifeless and inert, that those who choose to continue will inevitably be checking their watch.
Chad S. gave it an8:
The title, as we soon learn, is metaphorical as well as literal. There's more than one dead girl in "The Dead Girl". Six or seven, actually; more than one per chapter in some cases. During the first story, we can see that Arden's mother(Piper Laurie, reviving the role she played in "Carrie") murdered her daughter(Toni Collette) a long time ago. Next up is Leah(Rose Byrne), a coroner-in-training, who(along with her mother) died the day her younger sister went missing. She'd rather hang out with corpses than with James Franco. Both women are on the verge of being reborn when it's thought that the "Jane Doe" Leah is working on might be their missing family member. "The Dead Girl" is not so much a downer, but it can be sobering, especially the final story; the story of the "dead girl", who ironically, turns out to be the most alive girl in the story. Krista(Brittany Murphy) had a hard-knock life, but she was, as they say, making lemonade out of lemons. Murphy is fierce. She really loved Rosetta(Kerry Washington). In life, Ruth(Mary Beth Hurt, from the chapter "The Wife"), stuck with her scumbag of a husband(Nick Searcy), is dying the slow death of an underappreciated housewife. "The Dead Girl" is always intelligent, always dead-on about the facts of life...and death.
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