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Late Marriage
Magnolia Pictures
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Lior Ashkenazi,
Ronit Elkabetz,
Moni Moshonov,
Lili Koshashvili,
Aya Steinovits Laor,
Rozina Cambus,
Simon Chen,
and
Sapir Kugman
Set within the Georgian émigré community of Tel Aviv, Late Marriage is a sexy and biting comedy of manners that investigates what happens when human beings get stuck between the rock of true love and the hard place of family tradition. (Magnolia Pictures)
| GENRE(S): |
Romance
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Dover Koshashvili
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Dover Koshashvili
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: February 18, 2003
Video: February 18, 2003
Theatrical: May 17, 2002
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
100 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Israel / France |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Georgian / Hebrew (with English subtitles) |
Original title "Hatuna Meuheret"
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...
100
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
The acting is superb, the filmmaking is imaginative, and the story never goes quite where you expect.
100
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
So intimate and sensual and funny and psychologically self-revealing that it makes most of what passes for sex in the movies look like cheap hysterics.
100
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Late Marriage will assuredly rank as one of the cleverest, most deceptively amusing comedies of the year.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Watch for the director's own mother, Lili Kosashvili, a standout as Zaza's fierce, stately mama.
90
The New Yorker
Anthony Lane
The most fruitful twist in Late Marriage is that at its core lies not a snippy domestic farce but a prolonged, dirty, and wholly credible sex scene, which starts and stops and starts again, and in which argument and arousal are entwined like limbs. [27 May 2002, p.124]
90
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
A canny (and profoundly sexy) movie.
90
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
Powerful and very bitter comedy.
89
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
The overall execution add up to a film of beautiful, ultimately heartbreaking honesty.
88
Chicago Tribune
John Petrakis
One of those welcome visitors, a movie that turns out to be much more than we expected.
88
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
Until the final shot, the movie keeps you wondering how it will turn out.
83
Portland Oregonian
Kim Morgan
Doesn't give off the same happy feel of the Indian arranged-marriage movie "Monsoon Wedding." Rather, it poses hard questions and leaves them unanswered.
80
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Kosashvili's camera is restrained, the better to render Late Marriage superbly brash, raunchy, and confrontational.
80
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
A daring and immediate debut feature for Koshashvili, Late Marriage could lead two likeminded people to opposite conclusions, and that may be its greatest strength.
80
Chicago Reader
Ted Shen
Despite its farcical moments, Late Marriage leaves an aftertaste as sobering as other recent films that critique cultural conservatives in the Middle East.
80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Late Marriage is a closely observed, somewhat funny, ultimately very sad movie.
80
Variety
Lisa Nesselson
As wrenching as it is funny.
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Edward Guthmann
A stunning directing debut -- is anything but sentimental about old- country customs.
75
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
The most important sequence in Late Marriage is a refreshingly frank sex scene involving Zaza and Judith. -- Watching this scene, we realize that most sex scenes in the movies play like auditions.
75
New York Post
Megan Lehmann
Kosashvili's clear-eyed approach to the cultural tradition of arranged marriage balances respect and scorn, and he reconciles the comedy and tragedy inherent in Zaza's tug-of-love with finesse.
75
New York Daily News
Elizabeth Weitzman
Whether this smart, sexy and unsparing film is a hilarious comedy or a poignant drama is a matter of personal opinion — and experience. But if you've ever felt both baffled and blessed by your own family, this "Marriage" is one event you won't want to miss.
75
Charlotte Observer
Lawrence Toppman
If you used this guy's umbilical cord for fishing line, you could land a world-record marlin.
70
New Times (L.A.)
Robert Wilonsky
A remarkable movie with an unsatisfying ending, which is just the point.
70
LA Weekly
Ella Taylor
Late Marriage, though hardly dispassionate, assiduously avoids passing judgment on any of its characters, all of whom are desperately trying to bend the world into conformity with their own narratives and superstitions.
70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
This superbly played film, directed with remarkable skill for a first-time feature filmmaker, is truly an adult drama.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Up and down, Late Marriage is definitely rocky, but there's never a point where we lose interest and want out -- as relationships go, that's not bad.
50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
Late Marriage's stiffness is unlikely to demonstrate the emotional clout to sweep U.S. viewers off their feet.
 The average user rating for this movie is 7.2 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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Chad S. gave it a 7:
