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Movies / On DVD / The Invisible Circus
The Invisible Circus

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The Invisible Circus (2001)

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22 %
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Reviews Counted:60

Fresh:13

Rotten:47

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: Despite Jordana Brewster's strong performance, The Invisible Circus lacks the necessary dramatic tension to be interesting. Also, the cultural and political contexts of the period are barely explored.

Runtime: 1 hr 33 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: In THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS, sixties idealism meets headlong with family conflict and, mysteriously, death. This compelling drama, based on Jennifer Egan's novel, begins in the infamous Summer of '69,... In THE INVISIBLE CIRCUS, sixties idealism meets headlong with family conflict and, mysteriously, death. This compelling drama, based on Jennifer Egan's novel, begins in the infamous Summer of '69, when radical hippie Faith O'Connor (Cameron Diaz), and her English boyfriend Wolf (Christopher Eccleston) take off for Europe, feeling that they will change the world for the positive. Faith diligently writes postcards to her younger sister Phoebe (Jordana Brewster). When they suddenly stop, the next Faith's family hears of her is that her body has been found at the bottom of a cliff outside a tiny Portuguese fishing village, the victim of an apparent suicide. Seven years later, Phoebe, a haunted, introverted teenager, still doesn't believe her adventurous, life-loving sister would have taken her own life so, against the wishes of her protective mother (Blythe Danner), Phoebe decides to retrace Faith's journey across Europe, using the postcards she had received from Faith as her only clues to a growing mystery. From a houseboat in Amsterdam to a flat in Paris, Phoebe follows Faith's footsteps right to the end. Along the way, she finds Wolf married and settled into a life of bourgeois complacency, one of the many twists in this chilling, engaging story. [More]

Starring: Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston, Cameron Diaz, Patrick Bergin

Starring: Jordana Brewster, Christopher Eccleston, Cameron Diaz, Patrick Bergin, Camilla Belle, Blythe Danner

Director: Adam Brooks

Director: Adam Brooks
Screenwriter: Adam Brooks
Composer: Nick Laird-Clowes
Studio: New Line Cinema

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Invisible Circus

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1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

A credible portrait of an era, and draws in its tensions and conflicts with quite some power.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/16/01
Michael Thomson
Michael Thomson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/15/03
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
12/10/01
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
12/15/03
Neil Norman
Neil Norman
This is London
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
02/03/04
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Brooks tries to cram too much into his scenes, combining both the film's external world and characters' inner thoughts in a way that is cluttered and lacking in imagination.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
09/04/01
Ryan Cracknell
Ryan Cracknell
Apollo Guide
N/R

For fans of any of the performers involved, it should be a must-see.

Full Review Source: Baseline.Hollywood.com | comment Comment
12/21/01
Ted Murphy
Ted Murphy
Baseline.Hollywood.com

A fatally insubstantial film.

comment Comment
02/02/01
Jay Carr
Jay Carr
Boston Globe

The low energy level ... keeps The Invisible Circus from fulfilling the potential of its interesting characters and theme.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
02/01/01
Michael Tunison
Michael Tunison
Boxoffice Magazine

When flashbacks tease us with bits of information, it has to be done well, or we feel toyed with. Here the mystery is solved by stomping in thick-soled narrative boots through the squishy marsh of contrivance.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
02/02/01
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Everything must pass through the filter of Phoebe, who is basically inexpressive and unlikable.

comment Comment
02/01/01
Mark Caro
Mark Caro
Chicago Tribune

Alluring, but ultimately insubstantial.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
02/02/01
Chris Barsanti
Chris Barsanti
Citysearch

Brewster has us caught up in her adventure, making us empathize with her conflicts and compulsions.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
01/09/01
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

It's a dull, dim flick.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
02/01/01
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News

This cinematic big top is worth the price of admission.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
02/02/01
E! Online
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment Comment
02/08/01
Ebert & Roeper

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/07/01
Greg Muskewitz
Greg Muskewitz
eFilmCritic.com

Adam Brooks' film is a total miss, both as a potentially intriguing look into the tumultuous politics of the 1960s and 1970s and as a coming of age of a girl obsessed with her sister's mysterious death

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
12/18/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

Cameron Diaz and Christopher Eccleston? Good. Jordana Brewster? Actorly indication, stilted line readings and nostril-flaring petulance. The result? A bad day at the Circus.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
04/28/03
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 >> >|
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