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Movies / On DVD / The Shape of Things
The Shape of Things

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The Shape of Things (2003)

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Reviews Counted:133

Fresh:86

Rotten:47

Average Rating:6.3/10

Consensus: LaBute returns to his earlier themes of cruelty in relationships, and the results hit hard.

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Dramas

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... 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]

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

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

Director: Neil LaBute

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

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Reviews for The Shape of Things

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

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment Comment
02/12/08
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

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

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
04/01/06
Colin Kennedy
Colin Kennedy
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What on earth has happened to this director?

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
01/15/04
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

Full Review Source: Sight and Sound | comment Comment
01/06/04
David Jays
David Jays
Sight and Sound

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 Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
01/04/04
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

Brutal, sexy and astonishingly acted.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/11/03
Nev Pierce
Nev Pierce
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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 Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
10/26/03
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Sadly, the film never overcomes its stage roots.

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

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
04/29/09
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Felix Vasquez Jr.
Cinema Crazed

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
08/07/08
Mark Halverson
Mark Halverson
Sacramento News & Review

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

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
02/12/08
Scott Tobias
Scott Tobias
AV Club

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

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
09/23/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

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 Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
07/10/07
Wendy Weinstein
Wendy Weinstein
Film Journal International

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 Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
08/17/06
Jordan Hiller
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

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

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
08/04/04
Brian Mckay
Brian Mckay
eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
02/21/04
Geoffrey Kleinman
Geoffrey Kleinman
DVDTalk.com

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

Full Review Source: Film Experience | comment Comment
12/18/03
Nathaniel Rogers
Nathaniel Rogers
Film Experience

should have been left on the stage.

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

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 Source: Big Picture | comment Comment
11/19/03
Larry Carroll
Larry Carroll
Big Picture
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Shape of Things

August 31, 2006: Critical Consensus: "Crank" Is Well-Ranked; "Illusionist" Is Magic, "Crossover" Is An Air-Ball, "Wicker Man" Gets Burned
This week at the movies, we've got hoopsters with big dreams ("Crossover," starring Anthony Mackie), scary goings-on on remote islands ("The Wicker Man,"... More...

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