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Blue Car

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Blue Car (2003)

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Reviews Counted:85

Fresh:69

Rotten:16

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: A cautionary tale that rings true.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for sexual content and language

Runtime: 88 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:May 2, 2003 Limited

Box Office: $397,645

Synopsis: Agnes Bruckner delivers an impressive, assured performance with BLUE CAR, an affecting coming-of-age drama from Karen Moncrieff. Bruckner is Meg, a beautiful teenager who is desperate to find... Agnes Bruckner delivers an impressive, assured performance with BLUE CAR, an affecting coming-of-age drama from Karen Moncrieff. Bruckner is Meg, a beautiful teenager who is desperate to find inspiration and guidance in her otherwise tumultuous life. At an early age, her father left her family behind. Now, there is only her edgy mother, Diane (Margaret Colin), and her increasingly aloof younger sister, Lily (Regan Arnold). Salvation appears to arrive in the presence of Mr. Auster (David Strathairn), Meg's reserved English teacher who takes an interest in Meg's poetry. It isn't long before both Meg and Mr. Auster begin to take an interest in each other, and as an approaching national poetry competition brings the two closer together, deeper feelings emerge. But Meg eventually learns a painful secret about Mr. Auster, which shatters her impressions of the man, and threatens to push her over the edge forever. Moncrieff, a former television actress turned writer-director, turns her potentially formulaic material into ultimately moving entertainment. This can be attributed to the performances of her lead actors. As the conflicted Meg, Bruckner is a perfect blend of budding sexuality and adolescent bitterness. As her damaged teacher, Strathairn is at turns deeply comforting and crushingly evil. [More]

Starring: David Strathairn, Agnes Bruckner, Margaret Colin, Frances Fisher

Starring: David Strathairn, Agnes Bruckner, Margaret Colin, Frances Fisher, Regan Arnold

Director: Karen Moncrieff

Director: Karen Moncrieff
Screenwriter: Karen Moncrieff
Producer: Peer J. Oppenheimer, Amy Sommer, David Waters
Composer: Adam Gorgoni
Studio: Miramax Films

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Release:

Oct 14, 2003

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Blue Car
  • Featuring the unforgettable performances of sensational newcomer Agnes Bruckner (MURDER BY NUMBERS), David Strathairn (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL), Margaret Colin (UNFAITHFUL), and Frances Fisher (TITANIC), BLUE CAR tells a powerful coming of age story in the provocative style of AMERICAN BEAUTY. Having been abandoned by her father and neglected by her overworked mother (Colin), young Meg (Bruckner) turns to her English teacher (Strathairn) for solace and inspiration. But the safety of what begins as a mentoring relationship turns increasingly complex and ambiguous as the tension in her family grows! Overwhelmingly acclaimed by the nation's critics, this powerful tale of sex and betrayal is certain to leave you with a lasting impression!
  • Source: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.
  •  
     
     
     

    Reviews for Blue Car

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
    04/01/09
    David Rooney
    David Rooney
    Variety
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
    06/24/06
    Time Out
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
    05/26/06
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Jeffrey M. Anderson
    Combustible Celluloid

    Click to read the article

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

    ...falters because it hews too closely to the witless cant of the average guy as a potential sex criminal.

    Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
    01/07/05
    Philip Martin
    Philip Martin
    Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

    Though the story is fragile, Bruckner’s superlative acting registers Meg’s feelings with the dead-on accuracy of an emotional geiger counter.

    Full Review Source: Boulder Weekly | comment Comment
    02/09/04
    Thomas Delapa
    Thomas Delapa
    Boulder Weekly

    Vivid performances . . . the film's warmly luminous look and the richly rendered view of a troubled but talented teen's struggles with the adult world sustain the film.

    Full Review Source: Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada) | comment Comment
    12/01/03
    Brian Gibson
    Brian Gibson
    Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

    Cuts both ways: the poetry and the acting were hot, the story and the cinematography were not so hot.

    Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    10/23/03
    Dennis Schwartz
    Dennis Schwartz
    Ozus' World Movie Reviews

    I found this movie fascinating -- but not an easy one to sit through. It's seems excruciatingly real.

    Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    09/27/03
    Betty Jo Tucker
    Betty Jo Tucker
    ReelTalk Movie Reviews

    At the film's center Bruckner more than holds her own, beautifully capturing the anger, uncertainty and yearnings of an unhappy kid impatient for her 'real' life to begin.

    Full Review Source: Kansas City Star | comment Comment
    09/12/03
    Robert W. Butler
    Robert W. Butler
    Kansas City Star
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
    07/22/03
    Deseret News, Salt Lake City

    Moncrieff, though seemingly incapable of lacing a story with surprises, writes snappy dialogue.

    Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
    07/18/03
    Phil Villarreal
    Phil Villarreal
    Arizona Daily Star

    The truest depiction I have ever seen on film of how children grow up with divorced parents. Hollywood blockbuster hype notwithstanding, this is actually the must-see movie of the summer.

    Full Review Source: Offoffoff | comment Comment
    07/15/03
    Joshua Tanzer
    Joshua Tanzer
    Offoffoff

    Painful to watch, yet it never sinks to melodrama.

    Full Review Source: Sacramento News & Review | comment Comment
    07/14/03
    Jim Lane
    Jim Lane
    Sacramento News & Review

    Moncrieff grabs us with details and dialogue so authentic ... that she often makes us feel as if we're standing on our toes and peering in the window of one of our neighbors.

    Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | comment Comment
    07/11/03
    Joe Baltake
    Joe Baltake
    Sacramento Bee
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    07/02/03
    Boston Phoenix
    N/R

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
    07/02/03
    Cynthia Fuchs
    Cynthia Fuchs
    PopMatters

    Blue Car boasts great talent in Bruckner, Straithairn and Moncrieff... [but] that talent isn't enough to get over the obstacles in the movie's second half.

    Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
    07/02/03
    Sean Means
    Sean Means
    Salt Lake Tribune

    borrows heavily from her television soap experience but doesn't collapse totally into the banal

    Full Review Source: ToxicUniverse.com | comment Comment
    06/27/03
    John A. Nesbit
    John A. Nesbit
    ToxicUniverse.com

    ...leaves Strathairn's possible predator frustratingly out of focus.

    Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
    06/19/03
    Josh Larsen
    Josh Larsen
    Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)
     
     
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