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Movies / On DVD / Down to the Bone
Down to the Bone

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Down to the Bone (2004)

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Reviews Counted:13

Fresh:13

Rotten:0

Average Rating:7.7/10

Consensus: A vivid portrayal of the effects of drug abuse that avoids cinematic clichés, Down to the Bone is a winning effort by first-time director Debra Granik and features a breakout performance by Vera Farmiga.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for pervasive drug content, language and some sexuality.

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Nov 25, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Last year's Sundance Film Festival honored DOWN TO THE BONE with two high-profile, prestigious and extremely competitive awards: Best Director and A Special Jury Prize for acting. A stellar entry... Last year's Sundance Film Festival honored DOWN TO THE BONE with two high-profile, prestigious and extremely competitive awards: Best Director and A Special Jury Prize for acting. A stellar entry in the Dramatic Competition, writer/director Debra Granik, in her feature film debut, and actress Vera Farmiga became the talk of the Festival and the indie film community. In DOWN TO THE BONE, Irene (Vera Farmiga) is a working class mother living in upstate New York. She struggles to keep her marriage together and raise two sons while keeping her cocaine addiction a secret. After a series of nearly fatal mishaps, and finally hoping to make a change in her life, she decides to check herself into a rehab center. She knows kicking the habit would be tough, but the experience proves even more difficult than she could have anticipated. There, she meets and falls in love with a fellow reformed addict (Hugh Dillon). When one of them falls into a relapse with the addiction, their commitment to staying clean - and to each other - shatters. This beautifully wrought film accurately and authentically explores the wrenching road of recovery without ever resorting to histrionics. DOWN TO THE BONE is based upon Debra Granik's 1997 short film, "Snake Feed," which won the Sundance Film Festival's Short Filmmaking Award in 1998. --© Laemmle/Zeller Films [More]

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan, Caridad De La Luz

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Hugh Dillon, Clint Jordan, Caridad De La Luz

Director: Debra Granik

Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Susan Leber

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Release:

Oct 31, 2006

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Down to the Bone

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Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
10/28/06
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This downbeat story of blue-collar drug abuse becomes a moving portrait of people battling their inner demons, thanks to an outstanding acting ensemble.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
03/16/06
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
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If there were an ounce of taste left in Hollywood, the magnificent Vera Farmiga would be a front-runner for the Best Actress Oscar.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
01/06/06
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
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The film is so pitch perfect and realistic, it seems you are there with these people, watching their lives unfold before you as it happens.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/16/05
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle
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Down to the Bone achieves what only the best independent films have: making life, at its most unvarnished, a journey.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/30/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
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Conventional movies, even independent ones, tend to get histrionic and judgmental about such drug-related setbacks. But Granik's film, though hardly a clinical case study, keeps a measured distance from the heavy-handed or simplistic.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
11/28/05
Gene Seymour
Gene Seymour
Newsday
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... a harrowing character study.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
11/28/05
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post
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[A] small, beautifully faceted gem.

comment Comment
11/28/05
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
New York Times
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... a stark, realistic portrait of a working-class mother in New York's depressed Ulster County as she tries to battle a drug habit.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
11/28/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
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Down to the Bone emerges with an aura of authenticity so strong as to be mesmerizing, thanks to a superior script brought to life with infallibly natural performances ...

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
11/28/05
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
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Unlike most movies about addictions, Down to the Bone doesn't follow the usual, comforting three-act structure -- social user develops a problem, user becomes a desperate addict, user finally gets some help.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
11/25/05
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
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First-time feature director's disciplined objectivity is coupled with humanism in this collaboration with a gifted cast and cinematographer.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
11/23/05
Robert Koehler
Robert Koehler
Variety
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This film has an ear for the way moms talk to kids, a sensitivity to drug-sweetened intimacies, and an appreciation of the urgent nuance, not just the comedy, of recovery-speak.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
11/21/05
Laura Sinagra
Laura Sinagra
Village Voice
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For actress Vera Farmiga, Down to the Bone presents her with a breakout role.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
01/27/04
Kirk Honeycutt
Kirk Honeycutt
Hollywood Reporter
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