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Disgrace

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Disgrace (2009)

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Reviews Counted:39

Fresh:31

Rotten:8

Average Rating:6.9/10

Consensus: Featuring outstanding performances from John Malkovich and newcomer Jessica Haines, Disgrace is a disturbing, powerful drama.

Rated: Not Rated

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Sep 18, 2009 Limited

Synopsis: In this stunning adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee, John Malkovich stars as David Lurie, a 52-year-old professor of Romantic Literature who takes a beautiful young... In this stunning adaptation of the acclaimed novel by Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee, John Malkovich stars as David Lurie, a 52-year-old professor of Romantic Literature who takes a beautiful young student under his wing and into his bed. To David, the affair is just a harmless fling, but because this is post-Apartheid South Africa, and because the student in question is of mixed race, a scandal erupts that forces David to abandon his lifelong profession and a lifetime’s worth of assumptions about himself and the world he lives in. Disgraced, he leaves the city for the remote farm where his free-spirit daughter, Lucy, lives a seemingly uncomplicated rustic life. However, neither David nor Lucy can escape the realities of contemporary society. When they fall prey to a particularly brutal attack by three black men, the very fabric of their lives unravels and they find that the definitions of victim and victimizer, of oppressed and oppressor, have forever changed.

Winner of Britain’s distinguished Booker Prize in 1999 (making Coetzee its first-ever two-time recipient), “Disgrace” was voted “the greatest novel of the last 25 years” in a 2006 poll of literary luminaries conducted by The Observer. Directed by Steve Jacobs and written and produced by Anna-Maria Monticelli, the film has already garnered extraordinary praise in its native Australia, where it has been hailed as “a model of narrative distillation married to vivid images…that unerringly preserves the tension of the book” and a work that “should be seen by anyone who cares about film or literature” (The Australian.) Boasting brilliant performances by Malkovich and newcomer Jessica Haines, and a striking visual style that perfectly matches the beauty and precision of the novel’s prose, DISGRACE brings Coetzee’s universe to thrilling cinematic life. --*copy; Laemmle [More]

Starring: John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Eriq Ebouaney, Fiona Press

Starring: John Malkovich, Jessica Haines, Eriq Ebouaney, Fiona Press, Antoinette Engel, David Dennis, Charles Tertiens

Director: Steve Jacobs

Director: Steve Jacobs
Screenwriter: Anna Maria Monticelli
Producer: Steve Jacobs, Anna Maria Monticelli, Emile Sherman
Studio: Paladin

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Reviews for Disgrace

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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More convincing as an allegory, but faithful to Coetzee's acerbic, alternative view of S. Africa's future than the usual uplifting themes of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
10/12/09
Nora Lee Mandel
Nora Lee Mandel
Film-Forward.com

A lethal look at the after-shock of apartheid. Tough to watch but bearing a powerful message.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
10/04/09
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

The movie eventually begins to wilt under the sober, plodding direction of Steve Jacobs, but the thoughtful screenplay gives Malkovich a complex, increasingly reflective character arc that he plays with great feeling.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
10/02/09
J. R. Jones
J. R. Jones
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The film struggles in its attempt to balance the thought-provoking overtones with the human drama at its core.

Full Review Source: Critic's Notebook | comment Comment
09/28/09
Robert Levin
Robert Levin
Critic's Notebook

The person snoring next to me is a perfect example of how colossally insignificant this fatiguing and strenuous flick is with its implausibility, unrecognizable characters and tattered plot line.

Full Review Source: BET.com | comment Comment
09/28/09
Clay Cane
Clay Cane
BET.com

Demanding but ultimately rewarding...

Full Review Source: Wall Street Journal | comment Comment
09/25/09
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Wall Street Journal
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Unfortunately, though Malkovich remains a compelling and cerebral screen presence, he comes off as too innately detached and prickly to elicit much empathy (not that his character is asking for it, mind you).

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/25/09
Gary Goldstein
Gary Goldstein
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Disgrace is an ugly movie, at times torturous to watch. It probably needs to be.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
09/24/09
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If the historical context for black anger is lacking, Jacobs nonetheless builds tension with excruciating effectiveness and dreamlike detachment.

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
09/24/09
Peter Keough
Peter Keough
Boston Phoenix

I awaited the closing scenes of Disgrace with a special urgency, because the story had gripped me deeply but left me with no idea how it would end. None -- and I really cared.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
09/24/09
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Newcomer Jessica Haines is transparent and heartbreaking as the prof's unorthodox daughter, a victim of violence as the old ways crumble.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/23/09
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

An unfocused and contrived drama that lacks a palpable emotional core, but John Malkovich's raw performance makes it at least marginally engaging.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
09/20/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

Disgrace" is an infuriating allegory about a sacrificial victim. Becoming a martyr never looked so pathetic.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
09/20/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Individual or societal in thrust, 'Disgrace' is hampered by a lack of resolution and the impenetrability of motivations.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
09/19/09
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews

A simmering lead performance by John Malkovich anchors Aussie director Steve Jacobs’ surprisingly deft screen adaptation of South African Nobel Laureate J.M. Coetzee’s widely-acclaimed 1999 novel Disgrace.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/18/09
Wade Major
Wade Major
Boxoffice Magazine

Steve Jacobs' elegantly disturbing film follows the exploits - or, more accurately, the exploitations - of 52-year-old professor David Lurie, a dissolute aesthete whose erudition does little to mask grotesque character flaws.

Full Review Source: NPR | comment Comment
09/18/09
Bob Mondello
Bob Mondello
NPR
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

After a compelling opening act and some shocking late-film developments, the film feels disengaged from the action at hand and the issues raised.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/18/09
Keith Phipps
Keith Phipps
AV Club

I cannot tell a lie. I derive great satisfaction watching John Malkovich act.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/18/09
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A faithful, compelling screen adaptation of J. M. Coetzee’s Booker Prize-winning 1999 novel.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
09/18/09
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A powerful and disquieting film about racism, sexism, and the hope for reconciliation in post-apartheid South Africa.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
09/16/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice
 
 
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