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Invisible Circus, The
New Line Cinema
FILM:
MPAA RATING: R for sexuality, language and drug content
Starring
Cameron Diaz,
Jordana Brewster,
Christopher Eccleston,
Blythe Danner,
and
Patrick Bergin
Feeling disconnected from the world around her, a young girl (Brewster) decides to follow her dead sister Faith's (Diaz) path through Europe and discover the truth of what happened to her. (New Line Cinema)
| GENRE(S): |
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Jennifer Egan (novel)
Adam Brooks
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Adam Brooks
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Video: August 31, 2001
Theatrical: February 2, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
112 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
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
San Francisco Chronicle
Carla Meyer
Even at her most nihilistic, Cameron Diaz is about as menacing as a boozy college cheerleader.
63
Philadelphia Inquirer
Carrie Rickey
It's a shameless don't-hate-me-because-I'm-beautiful-and-impulsive performance (Diaz), and it throws the entire movie out of balance.
60
Rolling Stone
Peter Travers
The script hits rough patches, especially when Phoebe and Wolf get it on, but the sisters cut to the heart.
60
Dallas Observer
Gregory Weinkauf
This modest project is all about atmosphere and reflection, and, as such, it is successful.
59
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
In its attempts to chart a young girl's journey from innocence to experience, The Invisible Circus ends up having all the heft of a Nancy Drew mystery decked out in a tie-dyed T-shirt and peasant skirt.
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
William Arnold
Diaz is quite believable in the part, and gets solid support from Brewster, who is even more appealing as the adoring, wounded and somewhat vacuous younger sister.
50
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Unfortunately, The Invisible Circus, which follows Phoebe as she retraces her dead sibling's steps from Paris to Berlin to the coast of Portugal, doesn't so much illuminate Phoebe's confusion as share it.
50
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
The director Adam Brooks adapted The Invisible Circus from Jennifer Egan's subtle, evocative novel of the same name. But Brooks has been unable to replicate Egan's skill in keeping a clear eye on her story.
50
Slate
David Edelstein
The film is overnarrated and in spots overwritten, but Brooks, who's primarily a screenwriter, does well with actors, and he has coaxed an extraordinary performance out of the young Jordana Brewster.
50
USA Today
Susan Wloszczyna
This joyless coming-of-age travelogue is such a downer that not even breathtaking locales can provide a lift.
50
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Yet another murky film about the 1970s that's watchable mostly for its cast rather than the story.
50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
It's a far more interesting film; unfortunately, it's locked inside a maudlin coming-of-age story that barely registers.
40
Salon.com
Charles Taylor
The Invisible Circus isn't junk. It's carefully, competently made, though with no particular feeling for technique or rhythm.
40
Wall Street Journal
Joe Morgenstern
The revelations of The Invisible Circus don't justify the quest.
40
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Something there is about the '60s that undoes the most intelligent of filmmakers.
40
Film.com
Ernest Hardy
It's not bad; it's just completely inconsequential.
38
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
When flashbacks tease us with bits of information, it has to be done well, or we feel toyed with. Here the mystery is solved by stomping in thick-soled narrative boots through the squishy marsh of contrivance.
38
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Director and screenwriter Adam Brooks, adapting Jennifer Egan's novel, doesn't seem to understand what makes a movie relevant.
38
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
A fatally insubstantial film.
38
Chicago Tribune
Mark Caro
When a movie is structured around the unveiling of secrets, you ought to care what the answers are. But writer-director Adam Brooks (Almost You), never offers any compelling reason to do so.
30
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
A more intuitive writer-director could have extracted a credible study of time-warped bereavement from Jennifer Egan's extensively praised novel, but Adam Brooks's turgid adaptation merely emphasizes the book's stiff contrivances and wobbly characterizations.
30
Los Angeles Times
John Anderson
There are any number of aspects to The Invisible Circus that simply don't ring true.
30
Chicago Reader
Lisa Alspector
In nearly every scene of her dangerously underwritten role, Diaz has a mouthful of cliches.
 The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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