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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:13
Rotten:9
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: Heartwarming and acidic in turns, this offbeat dramedy about two meter maids in love features solid performances from Samantha Morton and Jason Patric.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: We love cinema that makes us laugh, cry, or squirm with discomfort. And when a film accomplishes all three, as does Expired--on the pure strength of smart writing and excellent performances--it's a... [More]
Starring: Samantha Morton, Jason Patric, Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas
Director: Cecilia Miniucchi
An occasionally cringe-inducing mix of pathos and humor, the tightly scripted and well-acted tale follows a lonely, vulnerable meter maid who falls into a comically horrific relationship with a colleague incapable of emotional intimacy.
Top CriticMorton is one of those tingly actresses whose skin barely covers her soul, and to watch her search for tender mercies in a crazy-hostile world is a gift. The film is appallingly good.
Both Patric and Morton give brazenly fearless performances, yet these talents are left tangoing to a tune that’s nowhere near worthy of them.
A touching and unlikely romance that is no gloss but all heart and brains.
Top CriticThe performances are expert, but can't make up for a flat script and direction.
Assuming the shape of an old-fashioned indie, this offbeat romantic fable is a minor work that promises better things from its director; the narrative is considerably elevated by lead performers Jason Patric and the endlessly creative Samantha Morton.
The movie forces us to endure so much meanness without a proper resolution at the end of it. It's all ordeal and no payoff.
Unconventionally quirky in its unassuming blue-collar bluntness, Expired is comically horrifying in its examination of lonely people living on the fringe of professional obscurity and personalized disarray.
Evokes a relationship so acidic between a couple of meter maids that the woman would probably feel better breathing in the acidic fumes outside than putting up with her man's insults.
Tough indie drama features great performances.
one of the most inept, poorly-mounted productions of the decade
Call it an anti-rom-com, and see it if you can.
Death and regret hang over the film palpably, and Miniucchi's willingness to put her characters through disaster and humiliation while still plainly empathizing with them is what keeps the film surprising and its characters winning, in spite of themselves
Miniucchi's screenplay is an unwieldy blend of pathos and unsettling moments, which become increasingly uninteresting as the film trudges to a dreary close.
One of those Sundance "comedies" that make you contemplate slitting your wrists.
The funny, sad, offbeat, sometimes off-the-beat romance Expired is one of those precariously balanced movies that might fall to pieces with a different cast.
Top CriticTurns its uncomfortable central relationship into a fascinating study of symbiotic personalities.
Locating both Claire's loneliness and Jay's anger as partial outgrowths of their detested profession handing out parking meter violation tickets, Expired coasts along on a distinctively odd wavelength.
The temptation is to say Expired is closer to “Misfired,” but there are just enough good things here (particularly Samantha Morton as a lonely-in-love meter maid) to avoid that label.
How likely is it that love, not to mention hot sex, can blossom between two people who've picked identical careers dedicated to punishing the rest of us? Delightfully kinky sex and the city meter maid romp.
June 30, 2008:
Teri Garr Fights Her Way Back 
Multiple sclerosis couldn't stop her, and neither could the nearly fatal aneurysm she suffered in late 2006 -- after learning how to walk and talk again, Teri Garr is back on... More...
June 19, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Get Smart Misses by That Much, Guru Gets No Love
This week at the movies, we've got wacky spies (Get Smart, starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway) and silly self-help specialists (The Love Guru starring Mike Myers and... More...
June 18, 2008:
How likely is it that love, not to mention hot sex, can blossom between two people who've picked identical careers dedicated to punishing the rest of us? Delightfully kinky sex and the city meter maid romp.
More...
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