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Movies / On DVD / Spider
Spider

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Spider (2003)

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85 %
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Reviews Counted: 125

Fresh: 106

Rotten:19

Average Rating: 7.5/10

Consensus: Ralph Fiennes is brilliant in this accomplished and haunting David Cronenberg film.

Runtime: 1 hr 39 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Feb 28, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $1,278,369

Synopsis: The details of life are acute to Spider (Ralph Fiennes), who is in a constant struggle to overcome a traumatic event early in his life that forever shapes the real world he is forced to reside in.... The details of life are acute to Spider (Ralph Fiennes), who is in a constant struggle to overcome a traumatic event early in his life that forever shapes the real world he is forced to reside in. He has been allowed to give life a second chance after a long stay in a mental institution and returns to the streets of the East End of London where he grew up; sent to a halfway house under the stern, but unsupervised watch of Mrs. Wilkenson (Lynn Redgrave).

The sights, sounds and smells of being reacquainted with his old neighborhood send Spider further down a shadowy path that reawakens memories of his where his mother (Miranda Richardson) and his father (Gabriel Byrne) raised him.

His freedom from the sterile and medicated environment afforded by the institution gives rise to an unfolding mystery that surrounds his youth. As he revisits the familiar streets, Spider soon begins to uncover the real truth, shifting seamlessly back and forth between the tragic events that polarized a boy’s adolescence to the shell of a man enduring the surreal plausible reality of today.

Further complicating matters, the halfway house only seems to both confuse and focus his perceptions at the same time. Terrance (John Neville), who also lives in the house, is a kindred spirit and supplies a certain comfort that has been absent from Spider’s life. While Mrs. Wilkenson starts to personify his delusional account of his past, leading Spider to question his own memories.

Based on the compelling novel by Patrick McGrath, who also adapts the screenplay, the gothic and fantastical world that director David Cronenberg conjures up with SPIDER immerses the audience into the depths of a deeply disturbed boy who has crafted a reality all his own; a reality that takes him to the very limits of his faltering sanity. -- © Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Bradley Hall

Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Miranda Richardson, Gabriel Byrne, Bradley Hall, John Neville, Lynn Redgrave

Director: David Cronenberg

Director: David Cronenberg
Screenwriter: Patrick McGrath
Producer: David Cronenberg
Composer: Howard Shore
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Release:

Jul 29, 2003

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Spider

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
02/09/06
Derek Adams
Time Out

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: NYC Film Critic | comment Comment
03/05/05
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic

... the film's slow, toilsome journey does not lead to any particularly shocking or interesting revelations.

Full Review Source: Looking Closer | comment Comment
01/15/05
Jeffrey Overstreet
Looking Closer

What Cronenberg achieves ultimately in his latest mind bender is the full-scale distraction of his audience.

Full Review Source: Bangitout.com | comment Comment
12/06/04
Jordan Hiller
Bangitout.com

Cronenberg pieces together a compelling portrait of madness, but one which lacks the poignancy to be a rich, moving character study.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Alternative | comment Comment
09/30/04
Jay Antani
Los Angeles Alternative

Fails to connect with its audience and concludes in a contradictory and jumbled fashion.

Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | comment Comment
08/13/04
Mark Sells
Oregon Herald

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Mediasharx | comment Comment
06/02/04
Clint Morris
Mediasharx
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
05/19/04
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Cronenberg remains remarkably faithful to McGrath's vision. His success lies in his willingness to give himself over to the effect and atmosphere of the novel.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas CityLife | comment Comment
04/21/04
Matt Kelemen
Las Vegas CityLife

This sorta over-ripe Freudianism is, like, so-o-o-o yesterday.

Full Review Source: Cinemania | comment 1 Comment
01/28/04
Dan Jardine
Cinemania
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/15/03
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Ainda que o filme (refletindo o estado mental de seu protagonista) impeça um maior envolvimento do espectador, é impossível deixar de admirar a bela estrutura da narrativa e a ótima atuação de Miranda Richardson.

comment Comment
09/26/03
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN) | comment Comment
08/13/03
Bob Bloom
Journal and Courier (Lafayette, IN)

It isn't a film; it's a nightmare.

Full Review Source: Mark Reviews Movies | comment Comment
08/06/03
Mark Dujsik
Mark Reviews Movies

It may be Cronenberg's most depressingly bleak film, yet it is essential viewing for all admirers of the director.

Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) | comment Comment
06/01/03
Ken Hanke
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
05/28/03
Newsday
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An unforgettable masterpiece.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/15/03
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
 
 
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