2001 Movie
Dir. Richard Linklater · United States of America · English
Big stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman go small in this intriguing drama
Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman star in this brilliant small-scale drama by Richard Linklater (Dazed and Confused, Before trilogy). Hawke plays Vince, a volatile drug dealer who rekindles with his high school friend, Jon (Robert Sean Leonard).
And that’s it: there are only three characters in this movie, and it’s all set within a Michigan motel room.
But boy is it tense in that room, and man is this film so brilliantly written and well-acted. Vince, Jon, and Amy (Thurman’s character) discuss an event 10 years prior involving rape.
Jon, a first-time filmmaker, finds himself in Lansing, Michigan to present his film at a local film festival. Vince, his high school friend who is now a volunteer fireman and small-time drug dealer, also visits the town to support Jon on his big day, or so it seems. After a raucous hello and much backslapping, it appears that there is an undercurrent of tension in the air.
"The performances are amazingly charged and fluid."
— Peter Rainer
"Three actors yakking in a single drab interior, shot on HD video: It's unlikely this poverty-program recipe has, or ever will again, yield results quite as entertaining as "Tape.""
— Dennis Harvey
Venice
1 nom
Sundance
1 nom
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