|

New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search
Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

63
11th Hour, The
47
27 Dresses
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
39
Alvin and the Chipmunks
81
Bamako
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
47
Bella
68
Business of Being Born, The
69
Charlie Wilson's War
64
Cloverfield
30
Cover
68
Delirious
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
43
Final Season, The
41
First Sunday
51
Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
65
Great Debaters, The
63
Hannah Takes the Stairs
52
Hollywood Dreams
7
Hottie and the Nottie, The
60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
15
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
81
Juno
70
Lars and the Real Girl
47
Lions for Lambs
41
Mad Money
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
xx
Moondance Alexander
53
Music Within
77
Nanking
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
24
One Missed Call
74
Orphanage, The
30
Over Her Dead Body
39
P.S. I Love You
37
P2
46
Reservation Road
55
Resurrecting the Champ
57
Romulus, My Father
85
Savages, The
78
Starting Out in the Evening
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
57
Teeth
92
There Will Be Blood
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
32
Untraceable
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
68
War Dance
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
43
Youth Without Youth
92
Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The
92
There Will Be Blood
85
Savages, The
84
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
83
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
81
Juno
81
Bamako
78
Starting Out in the Evening
77
Nanking
74
Orphanage, The
71
Water Horse: Legend of the Deep, The
71
Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
70
Lars and the Real Girl
69
Charlie Wilson's War
68
Business of Being Born, The
68
Delirious
68
War Dance
65
Great Debaters, The
64
Cloverfield
63
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
63
11th Hour, The
63
Hannah Takes the Stairs
60
I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With
57
Romulus, My Father
57
Teeth
55
Resurrecting the Champ
53
Music Within
52
Hollywood Dreams
51
Golden Compass, The
49
Good Night, The
47
Bella
47
Lions for Lambs
47
27 Dresses
46
Reservation Road
44
Nina's Heavenly Delights
43
Youth Without Youth
43
Final Season, The
41
Mad Money
41
First Sunday
39
Alvin and the Chipmunks
39
P.S. I Love You
38
Trailer Park Boys: The Movie
37
P2
32
Untraceable
30
Over Her Dead Body
30
Cover
29
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
24
One Missed Call
15
In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale
7
Hottie and the Nottie, The
xx
Moondance Alexander
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Tape
Lions Gate Films Inc.
FILM:
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 |

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.

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.

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.

89
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
This is what great dialogue -- and by extension great movies -- is made of.

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.

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.

80
Slate
David Edelstein
No wonder Hawke was so hot to pass the script onto Linklater. He's superb, by the way.

80
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
Thoroughly engrossing.

80
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
None of the characters emerges as very sympathetic.

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.

80
Village Voice
Dennis Lim
The movie takes shape as an entertaining psychological armwrestle between rank belligerence and blustery condescension.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Linklater keeps it lively with imaginative camerawork and razor-sharp editing.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Mick LaSalle
Hawke is the movie's revelation.

75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
Tape may not be a great movie, but it's a great demonstration of creativity within severe limitations.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

60
Washington Post
Michael O'Sullivan
The smart but slight film implodes under the weight of its own "excessive linguistic pressure."

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.

58
Portland Oregonian
Shawn Levy
The best thing about the film is the acting of the guys.

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."

40
LA Weekly
Paul Malcolm
A tedious exercise in ethical hand wringing.

20
Washington Post
Rita Kempley
A typical student film with its arty angles, bad lighting and pretentious observations.


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.
Read more user comments...
Discuss this movie in our forums |