The performances are amazingly charged and fluid.
Tape (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:89
Fresh:68
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Taking place in a hotel room, Tape has the feel of a play, but its engrossing psychodrama allows its stars to shine.
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Richard Linklater, known for directing films that take place over a one-day period (SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE), magnifies that concept even further with TAPE. Adapted from the... Richard Linklater, known for directing films that take place over a one-day period (SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE), magnifies that concept even further with TAPE. Adapted from the Stephen Belber play, TAPE takes place in a Lansing, Michigan hotel room, where two old friends reunite ten years after graduation. Vince (Ethan Hawke), a lackadaisical fire fighter who pays the rent by selling pot, and John (Robert Sean Leonard), a self-assured filmmaker whose debut feature is set to screen at the Lansing Film Festival, greet each other with smiles and hugs. But as their conversation becomes more personal, Vince brings up an old grudge from the past, which confounds John. Vince is convinced that on the night before graduation, John date-raped his ex-girlfriend, Amy (Uma Thurman), and he won't rest until John tells him what really happened. Eventually, John admits the truth, evoking a shocking response from Vince. John must finally confront the demons from his past. When Amy arrives at the hotel room and joins the old friends, she detonates the explosive situation, accusing both Vince and John of being selfish, heartless cowards, which they actually are. Shot on digital video all in one location, TAPE is a character study that features strong performances by all three leads. [More]
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard
Director: Richard Linklater
Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Anne Walker-McBay, John Sloss, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Tape
There's a place in the world of the cinema for filmed theater, especially when it's done as well as it is here.
When the director's showboating isn't getting in the way, Belber's script lands some salient points about situational ethics and the pliable nature of guilt.
May not go down as more than an acting and DV exercise, but at least it's an engrossing one.
It's the cast's film to sink or swim, and for the most part, it's the latter.
Implodes under the weight of its own 'excessive linguistic pressure.'
Linklater continues to prove the importance of substance over style with Tape.
With hardly any artistry in sight, the film's appeal cannot hold up, not even with a solid performance from Uma Thurman and a fine one from Ethan Hawke.
All three players masterfully delve beneath their characters' outer faces to examine the inner personality.
"Tape" may take place entirely in a small motel room, but it packs an emotional wallop the size of an entire city.
Picture a typical student film with its arty angles, bad lighting and pretentious observations.
Nothing is quite deep, but the actors are utterly at home in their outbreaks and ambushes.
Linklater's direction -- all fidgety angles and superfluous motion -- tries vainly to goose and energize a situation that far too often is flat, unengaging and even repellent.
Tape plays in real time in a cramped space, but there are a lot of surprises lurking in the corners of that room.
"Would you guys just figure out what the fuck you're talking about?" Actual line from the film. Actual way you might feel by the time that line is uttered.
Tape look simpler than it is. Linklater is well-known for making pictures where characters talk a lot, and this one's claustrophobic setting and small cast provide a tighter narrative and formal focus than usual.
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