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MOVIES / ON DVD / THE SHAPE OF THINGS
The Shape of Things

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The Shape of Things (2003)

64%
50%
80%
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64 %
Reviews Counted: 132 Fresh: 85  Rotten:47 Average Rating: 6.3/10
 
Consensus: LaBute returns to his earlier themes of cruelty in relationships, and the results hit hard.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Synopsis: Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol, and Frederick Weller star in Neil LaBute's adaptation of his own stage play, which also featured all four actors. The film focuses on the unlikely romance between precocious art grad student Evelyn (Weisz) and shy English undergrad Adam (Rudd). As... Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol, and Frederick Weller star in Neil LaBute's adaptation of his own stage play, which also featured all four actors. The film focuses on the unlikely romance between precocious art grad student Evelyn (Weisz) and shy English undergrad Adam (Rudd). As their relationship progresses, the unhip, bookish Adam is brought out of his shell by the spontaneous, opinionated Evelyn. Soon Adam is losing weight, wearing contact lenses instead of glasses, and dressing more fashionably than before. However, Adam's changes begin to affect his longtime friendship with the optimistic, attractive Jenny (Mol) and the cocky, smug Philip (Weller), who are now engaged. Soon the four become involved in a variety of uncomfortable entanglements, ultimately leading to a disturbing revelation. A welcome return to form for LaBute after the period-piece detour of POSSESSION, THE SHAPE OF THINGS finds the provocative director-screenwriter back in the darkly comedic vein of his first two films, IN THE COMPANY OF MEN and YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS. Whereas those two movies focused on the ruthless and manipulative side of the male psyche, this film features a woman carrying out the same sorts of questionable acts of cruelty. As LaBute's film goes from sweet to sadistic, it brings up larger issues involving art and relationships, but these points never detract from the fine ensemble performances or the intriguing central story. Shot in California, the sunny backdrop of THE SHAPE OF THINGS works wonderfully as the counterpoint to the film's shady proceedings and allows the stage-play roots of the tale to unfold in a different light. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Rachel Weisz, Paul Rudd, Gretchen Mol, Frederick Weller

Director: Neil LaBute
Screenwriter: Neil LaBute
Producer: Gail Mutrux, Philip Steuer, Rachel Weisz, Neil LaBute

DVD Info

Release:

Nov 9, 2004

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • DTS Surround 5.1 - English
  • Dolby Surround - French

Additional Release Material:

  • Audio Commentary - 1. Neil LaBute
  • Featurette - 1. THE SHAPE OF THINGS FROM STAGE TO SCREEN
  • 2. WELCOME TO MERCY COLLEGE

Interactive Features:

  • Scene Access
  • Interactive Menus

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Recommendations

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 >> >|
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Ratings Image
N/A

Neil LaBute is among the more interesting cinematic talents to emerge these past half-dozen years.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/12/08
Philip French
Observer [UK]
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4/5

The actors all benefit from intimate knowledge of difficult parts, and barbs at modern art and sexual mores do cut through.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/01/06
Colin Kennedy
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

There are barbs here to tickle anyone's paranoia, but the callousness isn't illustrative, just exploitative.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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2/5

What on earth has happened to this director?

Full Review | comment Comment
01/15/04
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Rachel Weisz's brilliantly layered performance as Evelyn -- barbed, vehement and oddly sorrowful -- keeps all options open.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/06/04
David Jays
Sight and Sound
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3.5/4

Some critics have called the film stolid and stagy. I think the way it sits still and looks hard is just the point, and the key to its effect.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/04/04
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic
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5/5

Brutal, sexy and astonishingly acted.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/11/03
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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3/5

Well-acted and deliberately stagey, this is a controversial, typically misogynistic tale from writer-director Neil LaBute that is certain to divide both critics and audiences alike.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/26/03
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
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2/5

Sadly, the film never overcomes its stage roots.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/14/03
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
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N/A

When the players themselves are conceived this superficially, LaBute winds up invalidating his own point.

Full Review | comment Comment
02/12/08
Scott Tobias
Onion AV Club
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4/5

LaBute gives us a sequence of scathing emotional violence that outdoes anything I've seen this year.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com
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N/A

LaBute's observations about our self-destructive obsession with appearances may not be original, but his ability to create articulate, provocative characters is.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/10/07
Wendy Weinstein
Film Journal International
Ratings Image
1.5/4

Go see The Shape of Things, a peculiarly acted, nasty caper, and decide for yourself whether we are being set up by LaBute with a manipulative device or if he is speaking to our frailties and telling truths.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/17/06
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com
Ratings Image
2/5

LaBute returns to familiar territory (albeit with a gender twist) that would have been best left unvisited.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/04/04
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com
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2/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
02/21/04
Geoffrey Kleinman
DVDTalk.com
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N/A

...holds the dubious distinction of being the laziest stage-to-screen transfer I've ever seen.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/18/03
Nathaniel Rogers
Film Experience
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N/A

should have been left on the stage.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/02/03
Tom Grealis
RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
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B-

Provocateur LaBute not only dramatically throws the 'c' word at us in this film, but he also goes to great lengths to show us one.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/19/03
Larry Carroll
Big Picture
Ratings Image
3.5/4

The commercially minded Nurse Betty aside, it’s Neil LaBute’s weakest work. But even on a bad day, he’s better than most.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/01/03
Nick Rogers
State Journal-Register (Springfield, IL)
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N/A

The Shape of Things continues that cat-and-mouse game of wits, a kind of rebellion against viewer complacency.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/16/03
Prairie Miller
Long Island Press
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