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Once in the Life
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 14 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 0 votes
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Drama
Written by: Laurence Fishburne (also play Riff Raff)
Directed by: Laurence Fishburne
Release Date:
Theatrical: October 27, 2000
DVD: March 27, 2001
Running Time: 110 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for pervasive languge, strong violence and some drug content
Starring Laurence Fishburne, Gregory Hines, and Annabella Sciorra
A gritty drama centered around brotherhood and friendship, Once in the Life is a realistic depiction of how every day choices affect our path in life. (Lions Gate Films)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer 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...
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Fishburne excels in his triple-threat roles as actor, director and adapter of his own play, and his cast glows under his direction.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly F. X. Feeney
May lack any transcendent point that would make it exceptional, but it is certainly a worthy start, and worth catching.
Read Full Review >Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Has a credibly gritty texture, thanks in large part to Fishburne's generosity with his fellow actors.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Basically it's an acting exercise - a one-set rendition of that old stage and movie standby, the ex-convict struggling to go straight who's tempted to attempt one last score.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Strong, hard, dirty, funny, moving atmospheric and laced with scabrously musical street dialogue.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
As urban gangster drama, Once in the Life is way below mundane, and Fishburne's direction exceeds the rookie jitters.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The movie remains an actor's exercise--too much dialogue, too much time in the room, too much happening offstage, or in the past, or in memory, or in imagination.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
If Laurence Fishburne could only have harnessed his fierce performance to drive his directoral debut, Once in the Life might have made something memorable of the done-to-death tale of small-time crooks on the run after a heist gone wrong.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
While the line-readings are often dead-on, Fishburne's movie suffers from the usual one-room claustrophobia and Mametian repetitions.
Read Full Review >Variety Robert Koehler
A film that ultimately feels stagebound and excessively talky, but which showcases an exceptional performance.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Ken Fox
The good news is that Fishburne also stars, and has recruited a talented group of actors to flesh out the cast; the bad news is that no one seems to have been on hand to help out with the rest of film.
Read Full Review >Film.com Henry Cabot Beck
Doesn't have a lot to offer that hasn't been done better -- and worse -- in hundreds of ghetto-sink shoot-em-ups.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
(Fishburne's) performance here, witty and profane, vulnerable and strutting, nearly holds the movie together.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
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.
