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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Myth of Fingerprints, The
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Classics
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy | Drama
Written by: Bart Freundlich
Directed by: Bart Freundlich
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 17, 1997
DVD: May 9, 2000
Running Time: 93 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for sexuality and language
Starring Julianne Moore, Noah Wyle, Blythe Danner, Hope Davis, Roy Scheider, Brian Kerwin, James LeGros, and Michael Vartan
A funny, sharply observed tale of an uneasy and emotionally charged New England family reunion. (Sony)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Catch That Kid Trust the Man World Traveler
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
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...
ReelViews James Berardinelli
A low-key holiday drama that's refreshing not only because it lacks the big discovery melodrama of most similar movies but because it's entirely believable.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
This engrossing blend of humor and heartbreak only hints at the causes, from betrayal to child abuse, of this family's dysfunction. Hang on. Attention is richly rewarded.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The characters are sharply etched but the plot is made deliberately ambiguous, suggesting that family life is so emotionally intricate that no single story can contain or explain it.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
It's a decorous film, conventionally well-made, but don't be fooled. Its emotional impact is considerable.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's probably not the last word in WASP angst, but it's eloquent, witty, graceful and as sharp as can be.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Proficiently written and directed by newcomer Bart Freundlich, handsome pic brandishes traditional qualities in the areas of acting, character revelation and middlebrow seriousness, but operates within a familiar and narrow emotional range that provides little surprise or excitement.
Read Full Review >Slate David Edelstein
Has spasms of silliness that thaw things out delightfully. Davis plays Vartan's girlfriend as an irrepressible, sexed-up brat, and gives every line a little hop, skip, and jump.
Read Full Review >Newsweek B.J. Sigesmund
Stands as a wonderful ensemble piece not unlike Woody Allen's dramas "Interiors" and "September."
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Less can sometimes be perceived as more, but in the case of The Myth of Fingerprints less is simply less.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser
Freundlich's problem is that he has made an essentially interesting movie that never seems brave enough to say what it really intends.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Stephen Holden
Has some good performances (Ms. Moore's ongoing snit is a terrifically sustained bit of glowering), but it only barely begins to knit its self-pitying characters into a credible family unit. They are oddballs with attitude.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
The film has a kind of echo-filled emptiness to it that some will take as profundity and others as mere emptiness.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Denise Lanctot
The first-rate cast is wasted serving up this melodramatic turkey.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
An overly mannered film drowning in the symptoms of dysfunction but unable to tap the root causes of this WASPish clan's pain except in the most oblique and cursory ways. This might be Freundlich's point, considering this family deals with its problems through avoidance.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
When all is fretted and done, there's little dramatic payoff in this moody first feature by Bart Freundlich. But cinematographer Stephen Kazmierski's images are appealing, and the mood is on target -- Thanksgiving as hell.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Charles Taylor
The Myth of Fingerprints is only 90 minutes long, but watching all this tasteful torment, you can't help thinking that if you were watching a Jewish family or an Italian one, the air would be cleared -- and you'd be out of the theater -- a hell of a lot quicker.
Read Full Review >The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
As Freundlich surely knew, he must have counted, as do we, on the revelation of character to enrich the piece. It doesn't happen. None of the people is particularly interesting, not even the obligatory neurotic, well enough played by Julianne Moore. [6 October 1997, p. 28]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
