Flashily but irritatingly shot, full of unmotivated switches from colour to b/w, sudden flashbacks, mannered slow mo and jump cuts, this is hardly a subtle evocation of its subject's life.
Comment
02/09/06
Piñero (2001)
43
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:61
Fresh:26
Rotten:35
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: Though Bratt is great in the title role, the biopic itself is messy and Piñero grows tiresome.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Miguel Piñero was a New York City poet and playwright who wrote what he knew: a world of "stabbing, shooting and dying." This gritty, non-linear biographical film presents Piñero's dark charisma... [More]
Starring: Benjamin Bratt, Talisa Soto, Mandy Patinkin, Rita Moreno
Director: Leon Ichaso
Reviews for Piñero
Top CriticI thought biographical movies were supposed to be interesting.
04/29/09
Overlapping the artist's biography and his work, writer-director Leon Ichaso pointedly reflects the chaos in his subject's shortish life, but he links the artist's frustrations and talent in the usual manner: as cause and effect.
07/31/07
A scattershot stab at a fascinating life and times.
07/31/07
Top CriticNo review available.
07/19/05
Who was Piñero, and more to the point, why should we care? Bratt brings him to life, but we come away appreciating his genius no more than we did before.
12/07/03
The narrative jumps haphazardly from set-piece to set-piece.
03/10/03
A movie of attitude that -- much like its main character -- consumes itself.
10/10/02
An artistic nightmare, marred by numerous stylistic leaps.
10/02/02
The only reason a person hops back-and-forth in one scene, from scene to scene, using (a) color film, (b) black-and-white stock, and (c) digital video (then back to (b), then (c) again, then (a), then…) is merely to do it because they can.
09/17/02
The film's cinematic technique is supposed to be vibrant and alive and reflect Pinero's variegated lifestyle, but it never gets to the soul of the man....
07/29/02
This biopic seemed about as amorphous as a junkie high.
07/26/02
A vivid rendering of the complexities of the artist's soul, and a notable attempt to convey the trajectory of a volatile creative life.
07/20/02
This promises to be one of the better films of the year and Bratt's performance deserves at least a nomination...
06/30/02
Benjamin Bratt, the pretty boy once seen on the arm of America's sweetheart Julia Roberts, plays Piñero with a passion. It's a star-making performance.
06/28/02
Bratt's performance is as steady and consistent as the film is frustrating.
05/03/02
God is jealous of Benjamin Bratt, but He's coming around…Bratt's performance [here] is electrifying and charismatic.
04/18/02
It attempts to champion the phony theme that poor, vulnerable artists should be forgiven their failings because they are so much more important than the rest of us.
04/18/02
Bratt’s feline elegance, arrogance, and melancholy can’t compensate for Ichaso’s lack of restraint.
03/24/02
Bratt ... takes a giant step forward in terms of credibility.
03/22/02
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