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The Event

The Event (2002)

tomatometer

29

Average Rating: 4.8/10
Critic Reviews: 17
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 12

No consensus yet.

audience

51

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

Apr 13, 2004

ThinkFilm

Cast

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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.

December 18, 2003 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The performances of Olympia Dukakis as Matt's mother and Sarah Polley as his sister elevate The Event from melodramatic claptrap to sensitive drama.

November 25, 2003 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News
Dallas Morning News
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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.

November 21, 2003 Full Review Source: Boston Globe
Boston Globe
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Despite its impeccable acting and subtle backdrop of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, The Event lets its message overwhelm its emotion.

November 7, 2003
Washington Post
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Fails equally as lament and celebration.

October 9, 2003 Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger
Newark Star-Ledger
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Aggressively drab and granular, the movie feels like a late-'80s AIDS passion play given an ill-fitting post-Sept. 11 makeover.

October 8, 2003 Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic IconTop Critic

The superb performances by Olympia Dukakis and Don McKellar are what make this film rise above its limited but well-meaning script.

April 15, 2008 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

[Deals] with extremely serious themes in a frank, honest and often humorous way.

March 22, 2004 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall
Shadows on the Wall

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.

November 24, 2003 Full Review Source: EDGE Boston
EDGE Boston

Most of the characters have no real life beyond representing various viewpoints.

November 6, 2003 Full Review Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel
South Florida Sun-Sentinel

The tedious film just plays out far too long with little new to say.

October 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Oregonian
Oregonian

The conversation about euthanasia is a good one to have, no argument here, so go have it instead.

October 20, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Freak Central
Film Freak Central

An obviously well-intended, brutally earnest work which nonetheless repeatedly shoots itself in the foot through sheer ineptitude.

October 11, 2003 Full Review Source: Film Journal International
Film Journal International

The intricate structure of the movie is well handled but its world is a stifling capsule. Dukakis is in a zone!

October 9, 2003 Full Review Source: Cinema Signals
Cinema Signals

content with its own limited horizons

October 6, 2003 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Audience Reviews for The Event

A New York DA is investigating a suspicious suicide in the city's gay community. The movie turns into a debate on the pros and cons of assisted suicide. There are a few name actors in this movie (Olympia Dukakis, Sarah Polley, Parker Posey, etc.).
November 25, 2008
Redlats

Super Reviewer

72%

"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)
December 19, 2011
FilmGrinder S.
FilmGrinder Stone
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