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Movies / On DVD / The Underneath
The Underneath

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The Underneath (1994)

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Reviews Counted:17

Fresh:8

Rotten:9

Average Rating:5.4/10

Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: With this cerebral remake of the 1949 film noir gem CRISS CROSS, director Steven Soderbergh has renounced melodrama and suspense to instead create an art film with the emotional weight of Greek... With this cerebral remake of the 1949 film noir gem CRISS CROSS, director Steven Soderbergh has renounced melodrama and suspense to instead create an art film with the emotional weight of Greek tragedy. The film weaves three time frames together to tell its story. In the present, Michael Chambers (Peter Gallagher) returns to Austin, Texas, for his mother's wedding. In the past, he flees town to escape an outrageous gambling debt, ditching his girlfriend, Rachel (Alison Elliott), in the process. And in the future, when Rachel's new boyfriend, Tommy (William Fichtner), a dangerous club owner, catches them having an affair, Michael comes up with a plan for Tommy to rob the armored car he drives. Soderbergh handles his material so deftly that the viewer is left to question whether it is fate or personal responsibility that drove the characters to their ends. Cinematographer Elliot Davis shoots each section with a distinct look in order to further distinguish the film's three chapters, giving the film a visual aesthetic that is overtly stylish and moody. As the flighty Michael, Gallagher is an attractive--and surprisingly comical--presence. His interactions with the rest of the cast (most notably, Elliott) are at turns hysterical, dramatic, and suspenseful. [More]

Starring: Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, Elisabeth Shue, Joe Don Baker

Starring: Peter Gallagher, Alison Elliott, Elisabeth Shue, Joe Don Baker, Shelley Duvall, William Fichtner, Adam Trese, Paul Dooley

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter: Sam Lowry
Story: Don Tracy
Producer: John Hardy

[See More Credits]

Reviews for The Underneath

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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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
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Todd McCarthy
Todd McCarthy
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

One of Soderbbergh's weakest (and unnecessary) films, this exercise in film noir, a remake of the 1949 classic Criss Cross, is marred by weak dialogue and formulaic plot, again stressing the need of a gifted helmer like Soderbergh for stronger narrative

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
08/31/06
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
10/09/05
Chuck O'Leary
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily

Too chaotic to work as a thriller.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
08/30/04
Caryn James
Caryn James
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
01/29/04
Spence D.
Spence D.
IGN Movies

Enquanto investe no desenvolvimento de seus personagens, o filme impressiona. Pena que acabe se perdendo ao insistir em várias reviravoltas pouco convincentes.

comment Comment
12/03/03
Pablo Villaca
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena

No review available.

comment Comment
05/16/03
Jon Niccum
Jon Niccum
Lawrence Journal-World

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
09/03/02
Dragan Antulov
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/12/02
Globe and Mail

Really enjoyable, especially if you like intricate flashbacks and multiple storylines.

Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | comment Comment
02/28/02
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies

What The Underneath lacks is the kind of emotional connection that the best film noirs have. Instead of involving, this film is distancing, too given to admiring its own shiny surface.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/13/01
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Jam! Movies

Soderbergh is a talent, but he still hasn't found his groove. He seems to be searching for the project that will be a match for his talents. He needs to keep looking.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner | comment Comment
01/01/00
Barbara Shulgasser
Barbara Shulgasser
San Francisco Examiner

he movie's strong points (including some nice work by Gallagher) manage to outweigh the negatives.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A departure from the run-of- the-mill thriller.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

Downbeat, laconically funny, arty (maybe a touch too arty), it's simmering, smoldering lowlife fun, like a good episode of Twin Peaks without the self-conscious weirdness.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Joe Brown
Joe Brown
Washington Post

As tales of sex and sinfulness go, Soderbergh's fourth film doesn't deliver.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post

Why did Soderbergh want to remake an old film noir, anyway? Take out the crime elements and flesh out the human elements here, and you have a more interesting movie, I think.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
01/01/00
Stanley Kauffmann
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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