Disappointing low-key modern film noir.
Comment
04/25/08
Coastlines (2006)
48 %
Reviews Counted: 25 Fresh: 12 Rotten:13 Average Rating: 5.3/10
Consensus:
Coastlines features solid lead performances, but is hindered by an unconvincing love triangle and scattered direction. Not up to the standard of Victor Nunez's previous directorial efforts.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Synopsis: Returning earlier than expected, Sonny finds that not much has changed since he left...except now the Vances owe him $200,000 for the time he spent in jail and, perhaps not surprisingly, they don't seem anxious to pay up any time soon. Sonny's best friends from childhood, Deputy Sheriff... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Josh Brolin, Timothy Olyphant, Angela Bettis, Josh Lucas, Sarah Wynter
Director: Victor Nunez
Reviews
Again, Nunez proves himself a master of understatement, presenting another poignant, slice-of-life drama peopled with vulnerable, fully fleshed-out characters caught-up in a complex situation.
02/20/07
It's flawed but no less fascinating for its mood of simmering tension on the fringes of the American dream.
07/28/06
There's so much simmering behind the characters that the film seems to get away from Nunez, which is fine. The messy emotions and illogic of human nature defines this drama.
07/27/06
Top Critic
The talent is still there, the film better than most. It just needs less crime, more love.
07/13/06
Keeps you entertained throughout its two hours, which says a lot about Nunez's storytelling.
06/23/06
A skeeter noir bogged down in the unconvincing pulp of a melodrama without conviction.
06/16/06
Top Critic
Proves that while Ulee's Gold was an exceptional movie, it wasn't a fluke. Nuņez just needs to search past the Panhandle for fresh material.
06/16/06
Despite good performances, this attempt to intertwine a crime thriller with a love triangle never gels...Fans of Ulee's Gold, Ruby in Paradise, and A Flash of Green are likely to feel disappointed by this decidedly lesser effort.
06/16/06
The stuff of pulp, seriously at odds with what the writer-director has always done best. That is, show the inner workings of people, their needs, their fears, their small dreams.
06/09/06
Nunez's fans will appreciate his ability to evoke a palpable atmosphere. But there's just not enough spark in his scorched setting.
06/02/06
Longtime independent writer-director Victor Nunez brings a rare combination of homegrown regional sensibility and genuine filmmaking skills to his low-key stories of small-town life on Florida's gulf coast.
05/31/06
Nunez's multidimensional character development, with fine performances by Olyphant, Brolin, Wynter and Angela Bettis as one of Sonny's old flames, lends weight to the schematic plot points.
05/31/06
[The love triangle] plays more like canned heat than blazing inferno...
05/31/06
It's a heartfelt movie that could have used a zigzaggier undercurrent, though Olyphant, in the sort of role that Paul Newman used to swagger through, has a star's easy command.
05/31/06
As they say, two out of three ain't bad, and we look forward to more winners by Nunez.
05/31/06
Sometimes it's best to leave those old scripts in the trunk, a view borne out by Coastlines,a melodramatic step backward for writer-director Victor Nunez after his last two pictures.
05/30/06
Top Critic
Enough of the ingredients for a sultry downscale noir are in place in Coastlines, that once the film turns perversely goody-good, it leaves you feeling vaguely disgruntled.
05/30/06
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