The Event (2002)
Average Rating: 5.2/10
Reviews Counted: 48
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 28
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.8/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 12
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 1,167
My Rating
Movie Info
Canadian filmmaker Thom Fitzgerald directs the sentimental ensemble drama The Event. Nick (Parker Posey) is a district attorney investigating several deaths in the gay community of New York City's Chelsea District. It seems that many AIDS sufferers have died under similar mysterious circumstances. Each case suggest the use of assisted suicide, which is illegal in New York. HIV-infected cellist Matt (Don McKellar) has died of a drug overdose following a large party in Manhattan given by his
Oct 3, 2003 Wide
Apr 13, 2004
ThinkFilm
Cast
-
Parker Posey
Nick -
Olympia Dukakis
Lila -
Don McKellar
Matt -
Sarah Polley
Dana -
Brent Carver
Brian -
Jane Leeves
Mona -
Joanna Adler
Gaby -
Rejean J. Cournoyer
Rory -
Christina Zorich
Judy -
Dick Latessa
Uncle Leo -
Cynthia Preston
Amy -
Glen Michael Grant
Andy -
Gianna Marciante
Lilian -
Jaclyn Markowitz
Amelia
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All Critics (51) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (28) | DVD (1)
To make a movie in 2003, one that centers around AIDS but ignores the epidemic's current culprit, Africa, and toys melodramatically with scenarios steeped in the filmmakers' selfish nostalgia without any real point, is to ask us not to think at all.
Top CriticThe performances of Olympia Dukakis as Matt's mother and Sarah Polley as his sister elevate The Event from melodramatic claptrap to sensitive drama.
A feminine hygiene commercial is by far the best thing here. Is that last item a curious thing to say about a film with such a weighty agenda? Exactly.
Despite its impeccable acting and subtle backdrop of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Event lets its message overwhelm its emotion.
Fails equally as lament and celebration.
Aggressively drab and granular, the movie feels like a late-'80s AIDS passion play given an ill-fitting post-Sept. 11 makeover.
The superb performances by Olympia Dukakis and Don McKellar are what make this film rise above its limited but well-meaning script.
[Deals] with extremely serious themes in a frank, honest and often humorous way.
Parker Posey and Olympia Dukakis lend their talents to an AIDS suicide film - it has its moments, but the death rattle comes from the genre, not from the central character.
Most of the characters have no real life beyond representing various viewpoints.
The tedious film just plays out far too long with little new to say.
The conversation about euthanasia is a good one to have, no argument here, so go have it instead.
An obviously well-intended, brutally earnest work which nonetheless repeatedly shoots itself in the foot through sheer ineptitude.
The intricate structure of the movie is well handled but its world is a stifling capsule. Dukakis is in a zone!
content with its own limited horizons
Audience Reviews for The Event
Super Reviewer
"Everyone has AIDS! AIDS, AIDS, AIDS, AIDS, AIDS!"-Gary Johnston (Trey Parker), TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE
Being a gay man...I mean a straight man, I don't catch to many of these types of titles. Nothing horrible and nothing great.
"Don't mess with a drag queen!"-Rory Metzler (Rejean J. Cournoyer)
Discussion Forum
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