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Movies / On DVD / Chelsea Walls
Chelsea Walls

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Chelsea Walls (2002)

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Reviews Counted:46

Fresh:12

Rotten:34

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: The meandering Chelsea Walls is more pretentious than poetic.

Runtime: 1 hr 52 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: The Chelsea Hotel echoes with loneliness, residents moving in and out, dreaming behind closed doors and searching for someone -- or something -- that got away. The Chelsea Hotel used to be grand,... The Chelsea Hotel echoes with loneliness, residents moving in and out, dreaming behind closed doors and searching for someone -- or something -- that got away. The Chelsea Hotel used to be grand, the place to live for New York City artists. Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix…they all passed through the hotel’s halls. Now, the iron façade has become rusty and the artists in residence are tarnished, too. Still, new dreamers come every day, hoping to be inspired by the ghosts of the past. Grace (Uma Thurman) and Audrey (Rosaria Dawson) are young poets, who constantly struggle with issues of art and love. Never learning from experience, they always seem to let the wrong men into their hearts. Grace should love Frank (Vincent D’Onofrio), an artist who respects and understands her. But she still responds to the siren call of the lover who went to Hollywood. Similarly, Audrey lets impenetrable Val (Mark Webber) back into her life, knowing he will go off with Crutches (Kevin Corrigan) to do something that could take him away from her forever. Down the hall, Bud (Kris Kristofferson) is a writer who faces more endings than beginnings. His pretends that his wife, Greta, (Tuesday Weld) and his mistress, Mary, (Natasha Richardson) are his muses. But his eight-hundred page book is really fueled by an endless supply of alcohol. A lion who is losing his roar, Bud is out of time. For every worn out writer, there are two new musicians who come to town. Ross (Steve Zahn) and Terry (Robert Sean Leonard) have just driven in from Minnesota, eager to experience the sights and sounds of the Chelsea Hotel. These new hotel residents, young and full of expectations, mingle with the old hotel ghosts, ultimately becoming interchangeable. They form a community, linked by their dreams, their isolation, and their pain. The Chelsea Hotel never really leaves the people who live there, nor do they ever really leave it. -- © 2002 Lions Gate Films [More]

Starring: Uma Thurman, Kris Kristofferson, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio

Starring: Uma Thurman, Kris Kristofferson, Rosario Dawson, Vincent D'Onofrio, Robert Sean Leonard, Natasha Richardson, Mark Webber, Tuesday Weld, Steve Zahn, Kevin Corrigan, Frank Whaley, Guillermo Diaz, Paz de la Huerta

Director: Ethan Hawke

Director: Ethan Hawke
Screenwriter: Nicole Burdette
Producer: Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian, Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler
Studio: Lions Gate Films

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Reviews for Chelsea Walls

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/18/08
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
06/26/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Pretentious navel-gazing hoo-hah.

comment Comment
04/17/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
eFilmCritic.com

As you may know, this film is directed by Ethan Hawke. Nicely shot, well acted, fine direction, well-organized (for what it is), but short on both impact and message.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
06/15/04
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Entertainment Insiders | comment Comment
09/05/03
Jonathan W. Hickman
Jonathan W. Hickman
Entertainment Insiders

The film apparently takes place in a fantasy world where people in hotel hallways recite poetry in voice-over instead of speaking to each other.

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/02/03
Josh Ralske
Josh Ralske
All Movie Guide

This is a very ambitious project for a fairly inexperienced filmmaker, but good actors, good poetry and good music help sustain it.

Full Review Source: Laramie Movie Scope | comment Comment
01/09/03
Robert Roten
Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope

A free-for-all of half-baked thoughts, clumsily used visual tricks and self-indulgent actor moments.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
10/23/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Kevin N. Laforest
Apollo Guide

It's a beautifully accomplished lyrical meditation on a bunch of despondent and vulnerable characters living in the renown Chelsea Hotel ...

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/17/02
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

This thing is virtually unwatchable.

Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
09/17/02
Paul Matwychuk
Paul Matwychuk
Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

'Linklater fans, or pretentious types who want to appear avant-garde will suck up to this project...'

Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
08/23/02
John A. Nesbit
John A. Nesbit
ToxicUniverse.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
08/09/02
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

Pretension, in its own way, is a form of bravery. For this reason and this reason only -- the power of its own steadfast, hoity-toity convictions -- Chelsea Walls deserves a medal.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
08/05/02
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
L.A. Weekly

It is dead on the inside, never quite achieving the movements and emotional solidity the material demands.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
07/20/02
Chicago Tribune

A complete waste of time.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
06/17/02
Edward Havens
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
06/15/02
Reel.com

Hawke's actors are a talented troupe, and even when things get self-indulgent and fuzzy-headed (and boy, do they!), interesting stuff is going on.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
06/13/02
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer

Movies like this do not grab you by the throat. You have to be receptive.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
06/07/02
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Hawke’s film, a boring, pretentious waste of nearly two hours, doesn’t tell you anything except that the Chelsea Hotel today is populated by whiny, pathetic, starving and untalented artistes.

Full Review Source: Des Moines Register | comment Comment
06/06/02
Jeffrey Bruner
Jeffrey Bruner
Des Moines Register
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
06/01/02
Boston Phoenix
 
 
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