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Tape
Lions Gate Films Inc.

Tape reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 71 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
6.6 out of 10
based on 26 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 8 votes
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Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for language and drug content

Starring Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman

Richard Linklater directs this three-character ensemble piece set within the confines of a tawdry motor lodge in Lansing, Michigan. After 10 years apart, three disparate people come together to play out the unresolved drama of their final days in high school. (Lions Gate Films)


GENRE(S): Drama  
WRITTEN BY: Stephen Belber (also play)  
DIRECTED BY: Richard Linklater  
RELEASE DATE: DVD: April 16, 2002 
Video: April 16, 2002 
Theatrical: November 2, 2001 
RUNNING TIME: 86 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

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...

91
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Linklater has hardly been a slacker this year. I'll take the tricky confrontational babble of Tape over some of the gauzier soliloquies in ''Waking Life,'' but either way, he's a filmmaker in love with the music of talk, and let's bless him for that.
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90
New York Magazine Peter Rainer
Linklater must have recognized a kindred spirit when he read Belber's play. He's given us a reality-fantasy game, a psychodrama, a harangue, and a detective story all rolled into one.
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90
Variety Dennis Harvey
Emphasis on its combustible emotions, suspense and surprising humor should help draw sophisticated audiences who, once lured, will quickly find themselves hooked for the duration.
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89
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
This is what great dialogue -- and by extension great movies -- is made of.
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88
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
The writing, acting and direction are so convincing that at some point I stopped thinking about the constraints and started thinking about the movie's freedoms.
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88
Boston Globe Jay Carr
Smart, unpredictable, and alive with the energies of actors who clearly are enjoying being stretched by their material.
88
Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
A super-taut and superbly acted three-character piece.
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80
Slate David Edelstein
No wonder Hawke was so hot to pass the script onto Linklater. He's superb, by the way.
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80
Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Thoroughly engrossing.
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80
Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
None of the characters emerges as very sympathetic.
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80
The New York Times Stephen Holden
In portraying this threesome, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Uma Thurman give the most psychologically acute performances of their film careers.
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80
Village Voice Dennis Lim
The movie takes shape as an entertaining psychological armwrestle between rank belligerence and blustery condescension.
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75
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
Linklater keeps it lively with imaginative camerawork and razor-sharp editing.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Hawke is the movie's revelation.
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75
Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
Tape may not be a great movie, but it's a great demonstration of creativity within severe limitations.
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75
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
An entertaining, post-modern mulling of the nature of truth, and whether truth is ever so fixed that it can be captured on tape.
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67
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak
Unfortunately can't transcend its theatrical roots and the actors, good as they are, seem like they're grandstanding.
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63
New York Post Lou Lumenick
For all of Linklater's acrobatic camera moves, you never quite escape the feeling you're watching a barely adapted TV version of a somewhat gimmicky stage play.
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60
New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
For three jerks bitching in a box, Tape makes the most of its minimalism. At its best, it's Betrayal for the Breakfast Club set.
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60
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
The action is confined to a single set and atmosphere is appropriately claustrophobic, but the image quality is harsh and flat. This accentuates the oppressive meanness of Vince's hotel room, but makes for some unpleasant viewing.
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60
Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
The smart but slight film implodes under the weight of its own "excessive linguistic pressure."
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60
Film Threat Anthony Miele
Overall, Tape is an interestingly staged play that, with the proper actors could have made a great film, instead of an adequate one.
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58
Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
The best thing about the film is the acting of the guys.
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50
Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
Despite its adrenalized actors, Tape is a tired return to the roots of the American indie movement's popular surge a dozen years ago. It could have been called "sex, lies and audiotape."
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40
LA Weekly Paul Malcolm
A tedious exercise in ethical hand wringing.
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20
Washington Post Rita Kempley
A typical student film with its arty angles, bad lighting and pretentious observations.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 6.6 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it a 9:
If Amy (Uma Thurman) didn't interrupt the tussle between Vince (Ethan Hawke) and Johnny(Robert Sean Leonard), and Johnny had the edge, would he pry the tape from Vince's cold, dead fingers? Johnny would then have to kill Amy, too, since Vince mentioned him during their phone conversation. Johnny says he's a different man, and yet, participates in a pot-smoking session with Vince, which might be a clue that's he's held on to his old vices, like drugs, like committing felonies. "Tape" is a remarkable piece of writing, a showcase for its stars (well, Robert Sean Leonard isn't a star, yet) to prove they're actors, and overall, the best play on film since Sidney Lumet's "Long Day's Journey into Night". Director Richard Linklater is no slouch either. A filmed play differs from a regular movie, and digital video seems to make that distinction. A play is about words, and celluloid isn't going to improve the grammar and syntax. The performances and situations feel so real, celluloid would've interfered with the uncanny versimilitude Linklater captured here. We're like flys with eyes.

Zeljko R. gave it a 9:
A superb movie, it shows that you don´t have to spend a lot of millions of dollars to do a movie. The cast is superb specially Uma. Rita Kempley quite wrong about the bad lighting and "arty" angles, i suppose she´s a spiderman alike movie fan.

Yoon C. gave it an 8:
One of the few movies that works as filmed play, it pries underneath the surface reality of three friends, exposing darkness beneath the facade of amiability and the desperation under a cool demeanor. Sharply written and performed. Directed with intense focus and concentration.

Dan C. gave it a 10:
A movie focused on dialogue which teeters on realism to the point of unease. For anyone who wants to see three people hash it out in the most realistic way a movie can get, check it out!

Luke M. gave it a 2:
Great performances, terrible premise. Why someone's close friend would arbitrarily betray him as Ethan's character does in Tape is beyond me. And the jumpy camerawork just seems a little desperate; it doesn't compensate for the claustrophobia of the film.

Ryan M. gave it a 0:
Nothing ever happens, no one ever evolves, and the camerawork never gets any better.

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