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Monkey's Mask, The
Strand Releasing
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Susie Porter,
Kelly McGillis,
Marton Csokas,
Deborah Mailman,
and
Abbie Cornish
In this "erotic murder mystery," a lesbian private investigator from Sydney, Australia who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of a university poetry student falls in love with one of the suspects.
| GENRE(S): |
Suspense/Thriller
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Anne Kennedy
Dorothy Porter (novel)
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Samantha Lang
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: March 15, 2002
Video: March 15, 2002
Theatrical: July 27, 2001
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
93 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
Australia / Canada / France / Italy / Japan |
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...
90
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
In directing The Monkey's Mask from Annie Kennedy's adaptation of Dorothy Porter's novel-in-poetry, Samantha Lang displays considerable style and assurance, with Porter and McGillis giving beautifully nuanced portrayals.
90
New Times (L.A.)
David Ehrenstein
Think "Basic Instinct" with brains, and you've got it.
80
LA Weekly
Paul Malcolm
What makes the film compelling is the filmmakers' ability to blend a studied (occasionally academic) dissection of cultural and sexual decadence with a potboiler plot.
75
Boston Globe
Jay Carr
Less elliptical and more down-and-dirty than Lang's interesting debut film, ''The Well,'' this one tumbles through Sydney's academic and alternative poetry circles and is built around a lesbian private eye.
70
Variety
Todd McCarthy
Builds and sustains considerable interest through its unexpected characterizations, unusual milieu and atmospheric style.
67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Paula Nechak
It isn't quite like watching a train wreck -- it's more perverse and anti-climactic -- but it's as hard to shake once it's passed.
63
New York Daily News
Jami Bernard
Kelly McGillis quite literally as you've never seen her -- as a manipulative, icy sex goddess in whose bedroom there are no limits.
60
Mr. Showbiz
Kevin Maynard
Makes for compulsive viewing.
50
TV Guide
Ken Fox
The plot itself isn't really strong enough to stand alone. And that leaves the film an essentially conventional whodunit, if one with a rather unconventional sleuth at its center.
50
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
Poetry, lesbian sex and murder might be a killer combination if a deadly pace weren't included in the mix.
50
Chicago Tribune
Loren King
It is awkward and dull, a capital crime for an aspiring noir.
50
Miami Herald
Connie Ogle
McGillis, though, is the film's worst enemy. Her wooden attempts to recreate Kathleen Turner circa 1981 undermine too many scenes.
38
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
Remarkably sluggish and not particularly suspenseful.
30
Austin Chronicle
Marjorie Baumgarten
The Monkey's Mask is filmed with an eye toward an arthouse sheen, although Lang's dramatic pacing is sluggish and dull.
20
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
Instead of suspense, there is confusion; instead of intrigue, a lot of inexplicable confrontation among characters whose significance is not so much enigmatic as obscure.
10
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
The film seems dimly aware of its own ridiculousness, but it lacks the constitution for self-mockery.
 The average user rating for this movie is 0.0 (out of 10) based on 0 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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