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Nobel Son (2007)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 65
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 49

Despite the best efforts of a strong cast, Nobel Son is over-plotted and self-consciously odd.

Average Rating: 4.3/10
Critic Reviews: 22
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 17

Despite the best efforts of a strong cast, Nobel Son is over-plotted and self-consciously odd.

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Average Rating: 3.1/5
User Ratings: 2,995

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Movie Info

A young man's moment of triumph is spoiled when he gets kidnapped before he can impress his father in this black comedy. Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman), a well-respected scientist, has learned that he's won the Nobel Prize in chemistry, which is a mixed blessing for his friends and family; while Eli's ego is a bit strong under the best of circumstances, this affirmation of his talent and intelligence has made him insufferable. Eli's wife, Sarah (Mary Steenburgen), a talented forensic

PG-13, 1 hr. 50 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Comedy

Directed By: Randall Miller

Written By: Jody Savin, Randall Miller

In Theaters: Dec 5, 2008 Wide

On DVD: Mar 10, 2009

Box Office:$0.3M

Freestyle Releasing

Nobel Son Trailer & Photos

More Photos (6)

Cast

Alan Rickman
Eli Michaelson
Bryan Greenberg
Barkley Michaelson
Shawn Hatosy
Thaddeus James
Mary Steenburgen
Sarah Michaelson
Eliza Dushku
City Hall
Bill Pullman
Max Mariner
Ted Danson
Harvey Parrish
Danny DeVito
Gastner
Ernie Hudson
Lasasso
Tracey Walter
Lindy Booth

Critic Reviews for Nobel Son

All Critics (66) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (49) | DVD (3)

Is it a thriller? Is it a heist movie? Is it a comedy?

December 8, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comment

Ben Lyons

At the Movies

Top Critic

I had high hopes for Nobel Son at the halfway point, but it ultimately really completely collapses under the weight of its clever twists.

December 8, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies

| Comment

Ben Mankiewicz

At the Movies

Top Critic

The plot twists are mostly predicated on the characters' improbably shifting loyalties, the sort of thing you can get away with only when the people in your movie are drained of all compassion.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

It's one of those films stuffed with odd characters in overblown situations. Unfortunately, you don't care about any of them.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Detroit News

| Comment

Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

Even if you can summon some admiration for Nobel Son's editing or snippets of clever dialogue, the movie is so relentlessly self-congratulatory, you can't help becoming thoroughly sick of it.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

Only when Nobel Son stops trying so hard does it have any appeal at all.

December 5, 2008 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle

| Comment

Joe Leydon

Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

The writing is hopelessly obtuse, and it seems that the writer was just trying to pull a fast one on the audience.

January 11, 2010 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures

| Comment

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

Smug and glib and generally apathetic as to who gets what in the end, so long as it seems clever at the time.

December 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinematical

| Comment

William Goss

Cinematical

Rickman's a professorial womanizer who's not above turning a "C" student's grade to "A" if she looks like City Hall (Eliza Dushku) and puts out.

June 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals

| Comment

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

I have no idea how all the scenes in this movie connect. But I loved watching it unfold.

December 20, 2008 Full Review | Comment

Linda Cook

Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)

You want to see how it plays out, but it's just frustrating to wade through all the "style" to get there.

December 12, 2008 Full Review Source: Can Magazine

| Comment

Fred Topel

Can Magazine

Its 110 minutes are a totally disposable piece of fluff, but perhaps more importantly, also a whole lot of fun.

December 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Paste Magazine

| Comment

Sean Gandert

Paste Magazine

Never feels like anything more than an �ber-nerd desperately trying to be cool -- like watching Jon Heder pretending to be James Bond.

December 10, 2008 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

The screenplay starts out clever enough, but devolves into a ridiculous mishmash of incoherent subplots.

December 9, 2008 Full Review | Comment

Jeanne Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

Director Miller employs high-octane music and the technique of high speed filming for certain sequences, which I suppose is a blessing since they shorten the running time.

December 9, 2008 Full Review | Comment

David Kaplan

Kaplan vs. Kaplan

It's one of those perfect-crime kinda flicks, wrapped up in familial angst as a black-comedy topping. That it's all rather ridiculous and overly complicates itself in the process is almost beside the point...

December 7, 2008 Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher

| Comment

MaryAnn Johanson

Flick Filosopher

Gets more and more convoluted and preposterous as it goes along, and far less fun...a movie that, despite the title, will win no prizes.

December 7, 2008 Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion

| Comment

Frank Swietek

One Guy's Opinion

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Nobel Son

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"There is more barbarity in eating a man alive than in eating him dead."Barkley Michaelson is in a deep life rut. He's struggling to finish his PhD thesis when his father, the learned Eli Michaelson, wins the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.REVIEWThis is a perfect indie film with a bizarre script with endless

November 7, 2008

Lorenzo von Matterhorn

Super Reviewer

Cast: Alan Rickman, Bryan Greenberg, Shawn Hatosy, Mary Steenburgen, Bill Pullman, Eliza Dushku, Danny DeVito, Ted Danson, Ernie Hudson, Tracey Walter, Lindy Booth, Kevin West Director: Randall Miller Summary: On the verge of receiving the Nobel Prize in chemistry, Prof. Eli Michaelson (Alan Rickman) learns that

September 24, 2009

♥˩ƳИИ ƜѲѲƉƧ♥

Super Reviewer

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