Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
32
(14 sources)
32
(14 sources)
-
75
Chicago Sun-Times
A messy but hungry film like this is more interesting than cool technical perfection. Read Full Review » -
75
-
63
New York Post
Less an updated version of the Dostoevsky novel than an unusually somber Hollywood teen love story. Read Full Review » -
60
-
48
Mr. Showbiz
Somehow manages to stay afloat on a sea of pretension, thanks largely to some splashy visuals. Read Full Review » -
40
Film.com
The whole point is nothing more than the revelation that the terrain of suburbia is populated with damaged people inflicting damage on others. This is still news? Read Full Review » -
38
-
30
Village Voice
Often succumbs to the craven hysteria perhaps inherent in its hoary premise. Read Full Review » -
25
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Not faithful enough to be an adaptation, too misguided to be considered an interpretation, and not funny enough to be a parody, this film would do well not to advertise its inspiration. Read Full Review » -
20
-
20
The New York Times
Completed before the release of "American Beauty," this contrived, puffed up little picture nonetheless seems like a ripoff, perhaps because it mines the same tired assumptions and unexamined stereotypes about suburban family life. Read Full Review » -
20
Salon.com
Even dressed up in tabloid lighting and cut with jagged edits, this pulp nihilism never goes beyond daytime TV banality. Read Full Review » -
10
Los Angeles Times
The "crime" was that it was made in the first place and the "punishment" is having to watch it. Read Full Review » -
0
Entertainment Weekly
A somber, draggy, deadweight, lugubrious, absurdly self serious version of ''American Beauty.'' Read Full Review »
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