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Applause (2009)

tomatometer

88

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 1

No consensus yet.

audience

73

liked it
Average Rating: 3.7/5
User Ratings: 1,389

My Rating

Movie Info

When the critically acclaimed, tough and coming of age actress Thea Barfoed ends her rehab, she confronts a hard choice. During her heavy drinking period she divorced and lost custody of her two boys. Now she wants them to be a part of her life again. Christian, her ex husband is quickly softened by her tough manipulative but charming figure and agrees. She has to prove to her self and to him, that she is worth the try. But the hard life on stage, and the ghosts of the past slowly comes knocking

R, 1 hr. 26 min.

Art House & International, Drama

Nov 24, 2003

Worldwide Motion Pictures Corporation

Cast

All Critics (26) | Top Critics (8) | Fresh (26) | Rotten (2) | DVD (2)

As much of [Steen] as there is, you'll want more.

January 24, 2011 Full Review Source: New York Magazine | Comment
New York Magazine
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Paprika Steen makes this particular character her own. And makes us join her adoring on-screen audience as we watch her play out -- gorgeously, horrifyingly -- her own tragic scenes.

January 22, 2011 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | Comment
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Director and co-writer Martin Pieter Zandvliet draws inspired work from Steen. You feel her every emotion.

January 21, 2011 Full Review Source: New York Post | Comment
New York Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's no real fight in Applause, though there is indisputably a great deal of acting.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Zandvliet and Steen create an unvarnished saga of a recovering alcoholic whose acting career makes all that teetering on the edge of one-day-at-a-time very public. It is a singular performance and a deeply affecting if imperfect film.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | Comment
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's nothing pretentious or overly difficult about "Applause"; it runs less than 90 minutes and features a bona fide star performance.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Salon.com | Comment
Salon.com
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The story is not new, but the film's measured take and Steen's volatile performance are worth seeing.

June 10, 2011 Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | Comment
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Applause has moments of flourish and moments that reach towards something as pared down as Thea's play, but it ultimately can't match the candor Steen brings to the screen. Really, little can.

March 27, 2011 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | Comment
Boxoffice Magazine

An engrossing, unflinchingly honest drama that showcases Paprika Steen's haunting, brave and tour de force performance.

January 23, 2011 Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | Comment
NYC Movie Guru

This pummeling drama about a self-absorbed, alcoholic actress who fails as a wife and mother is all about the intense performance of star Paprika Steen. A bonanza to be devoured by students/practitioners/fans of the thesp trade.

January 21, 2011 Full Review Source: Film Journal International | Comment
Film Journal International

As a showcase for its star, the Danish actress Paprika Steen, it's still rewarding in its own quiet, jarring way.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: Movieline | Comment
Movieline

Not surprisingly, the movie lives and dies on Steen's performance; not only is she in almost every frame, but at times, the camera is in so close that nothing is visible but her pitted, ravaged face.

January 20, 2011 Full Review Source: AV Club | Comment
AV Club

Zandvliet doesn't avoid the miserablist melodramatics any more than he hides his Cassavetes homages; the filmmaker knows this is a showcase for Steen to pull a Gena Rowlands, and she more than takes advantage of the opportunity.

January 19, 2011 Full Review Source: Time Out New York | Comment
Time Out New York

In a more just universe, the film and Paprika Steen's performance would be part of the Oscar discussion, instead of an imported curiosity.

January 17, 2011 Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | Comment
Hollywood & Fine

a very stilted emotional experience

January 13, 2011 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | Comment (1)
Filmcritic.com

Truly kaleidoscopic élan

January 11, 2011 Full Review Source: CinePassion | Comment
CinePassion
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Applause

The actors are very good, and the story is touching, but it's a predictable and overused plot. So, it's a good movie, but it could have done something to make it stand out more and make it different.

March 2, 2011
ajv2688

Super Reviewer

I found the trailer online the other day and I can't wait to see it. Steen is a powerful actress and can make any film incredible.

September 16, 2011
kbskyle
Kyle Schee

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Foreign Titles

  • Applause (Aplaus) (DE)
  • Applause (Aplaus) (UK)
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