X
- 1981
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 48 m
- 1981
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 48 m
Summary A worldly ambitious monsignor (Robert DeNiro) clashes with his older brother (Robert DuVall), a cynical Los Angeles homicide detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
Directed By: Ulu Grosbard
Written By: John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion, Gary S. Hall
- 1981
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 48 m
- 1981
- R
- United Artists
- 1 h 48 m
True Confessions
68
5.5
Where to Watch
Summary A worldly ambitious monsignor (Robert DeNiro) clashes with his older brother (Robert DuVall), a cynical Los Angeles homicide detective who is investigating the brutal murder of a young prostitute.
Directed By: Ulu Grosbard
Written By: John Gregory Dunne, Joan Didion, Gary S. Hall
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
68
50% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 12 Critic Reviews
68
50% Positive
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
50% Mixed
6 Reviews
6 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
De Niro's exquisite underacting seems partly designed as a foil for Duvall's special ability to express repressed rage and explosive anxiety. They develop a complex and riveting relationship that's one of the most brilliant brother acts in screen history. [28 Sept 1981, p.87]
Marvelously well-acted...Quite simply it's one of the most entertaining, most intelligent and most thoroughly satisfying commercial American films in a very long time.
Between the splendid cast and the unsavoriness of the period details, True Confessions generates so much absorbing human interest and persuasive texture that the miscalculated plot seems a minor letdown.
The film looks like an attempt to make a Martin Scorsese movie without Martin Scorsese.
While True Confessions boasts big themes (redemption, reconciliation) and big names, the plot and performances are painfully subtle. It proffers too many details and not enough payoff.
The two Roberts (Duvall as cop, De Niro as priest) turn in potentially great performances, but are given precious little to work with.
So why does the movie version, with Robert Duvall as Tom and Robert De Niro as Des, proceed at the sluggish pace of a Sodality novena? Perhaps because Dunne's collaborator on the screenplay was his wife, the Empress of Angst, Novelist Joan Didion. Onscreen, characters who should percolate with rage simply simmer. Two exciting, dangerous actors have little to do: Duvall spends too much time pacing and waiting; De Niro's big scene has him hanging up his vestments.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 6 User Ratings
5.5
50% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 6 User Ratings
5.5
50% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
33% Mixed
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
17% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There are no user reviews yet. Be the first to add a review.
Awards
Venice Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 3 Nominations
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
• 1 Nomination
