McElwee's autobiographical films ... are leisurely jaunts with a gentle humor that never mocks his subjects.
Comment
12/02/04
Bright Leaves (2004)
86
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:57
Fresh:49
Rotten:8
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: A rich, eccentric documentary about both filmmaking and the tobacco industry.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Ross McElwee directs this autobiographical documentary about his family's roots in the tobacco business in North Carolina. Taking a sabbatical from his home in Boston, he offers a culturally... [More]
Director: Ross McElwee
Reviews for Bright Leaves
Ross McElwee's movies have the rhythms of a person who is writing -- considering this possibility, rejecting that one and ultimately making a decision.
12/02/04
Bright Leaves mixes social conscience with personal journey in an even balance.
12/01/04
The mysteries McElwee sets out to solve aren't very involving, and his meandering style, while charming first and literate, becomes repetitive and yes, even a little dull.
11/30/04
A transcendent documentary that swirls in a temporarily timeless haze of themes: imagined pasts, shadowy legacies, cinematic heirlooms and the bittersweet landscape of memory.
11/26/04
detours never seem self-indulgent, just the flights of fancy of a creative intellect
11/21/04
McElwee is motivated less by political views, personal desires or preachiness than any documentarian I know. He's motivated almost solely by curiosity, and everyone he encounters ... interests him.
11/19/04
Click to read the article
11/12/04
Top CriticIt's a movie of odd juxtapositions and droll observations.
11/12/04
Inevitably poignant but also often amusing and always deeply touching, this film is likely to stick in one's memory for all its concerns, not just cigarettes.
11/12/04
Top CriticIt's a gentle rumination on the contradictions, failures and delusions of everyday life. But mainly, it's a quietly satisfying dose of reality.
11/12/04
Top CriticWho’d have thunk that a freeform meditation on tobacco, family, and filmmaking would be so compelling?
11/12/04
Soft and unhurried as the life in a small Carolina town, the film is likely to find some admirers because of that, if only among the most dedicated art-house set.
11/11/04
McElwee, he of the wonderful Sherman's March, noodles delightfully around the South again, only this time in his native North Carolina.
11/11/04
We're right there with [McElwee] when his search leads him to a cadre of colorful Southern characters with personalities as rich as their drawls; as long as the company is good, who cares that the expedition is getting lost on the side roads?
11/10/04
A multilayered film that gradually finds its focus.
11/05/04
A weightless film. Worse still, McElwee's languid tone makes his journey lack conviction.
11/05/04
Eventually, we realize that moviemaking has replaced nicotine as McElwee's addiction: Every so often, he has to step outside for a fix.
10/29/04
Opens tediously slow, but grows on you, reels you in, perhaps like smoking itself. "trance-like, seemingly suspending time." Then, like smoking, finds difficulty quitting.
10/25/04
A witty and sometimes touching tale of film, family and lung cancer.
10/21/04
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube 
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds