one of the most inept, poorly-mounted productions of the decade
Expired (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:22
Fresh:13
Rotten:9
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: Heartwarming and acidic in turns, this offbeat dramedy about two meter maids in love features solid performances from Samantha Morton and Jason Patric.
Theatrical Release:Jun 20, 2008 Limited
Synopsis:
We love cinema that makes us laugh, cry, or squirm with discomfort. And when a film accomplishes all three, as does Expired--on the pure strength of smart writing and excellent performances--it's a...
We love cinema that makes us laugh, cry, or squirm with discomfort. And when a film accomplishes all three, as does Expired--on the pure strength of smart writing and excellent performances--it's a small miracle. Expired is the story of Claire, an unimposing, sweet-tempered meter maid whose sheltered existence with her stroke-afflicted mother is jolted when she meets Jay, a troubled fellow parking officer. As Claire tentatively emerges from her shell and emotionally stunted Jay jumps in with gusto, their love affair becomes an awkward and sometimes-hilarious dance of antagonism and attraction, and she must decide whether to engage or pull away.
Samantha Morton and Jason Patric bring naturalism and gentle irony to characters who, when confronted with the possibility of closeness and sex, attempt to overcome paralyzing fear in completely disparate ways. Cecilia Miniucchi and her actors never shrink from Claire and Jay's raw or inelegant moments, nor do they stray from tracing the subtle evolution of a relationship variously shaded with perversity, generosity, misunderstanding, and tenderness. Mining the comedy and pathos inherent in the foibles of damaged characters, as well as the excruciating qualities of love, Expired offers searing insight into the complex mechanisms that obstruct human intimacy.
--© Sundance Film Festival
Starring: Samantha Morton, Jason Patric, Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas
Starring: Samantha Morton, Jason Patric, Teri Garr, Illeana Douglas
Director: Cecilia Miniucchi
Director: Cecilia Miniucchi
Screenwriter: Cecilia Miniucchi
Producer: Cecilia Miniucchi, Jeffrey Coulter, Fred Roos
Composer: Jeffrey Coulter
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Reviews for Expired
Death and regret hang over the film palpably, and Miniucchi's willingness to put her characters through disaster and humiliation while still plainly empathizing with them is what keeps the film surprising and its characters winning, in spite of themselves
Unconventionally quirky in its unassuming blue-collar bluntness, Expired is comically horrifying in its examination of lonely people living on the fringe of professional obscurity and personalized disarray.
Expired pretends to be a valentine to society’s outcasts, but it’s just one more indie comedy that mocks its characters while sucking up to its knowing audience.
Miniucchi's screenplay is an unwieldy blend of pathos and unsettling moments, which become increasingly uninteresting as the film trudges to a dreary close.
One of those Sundance "comedies" that make you contemplate slitting your wrists.
The performances are expert, but can't make up for a flat script and direction.
The temptation is to say Expired is closer to “Misfired,” but there are just enough good things here (particularly Samantha Morton as a lonely-in-love meter maid) to avoid that label.
The funny, sad, offbeat, sometimes off-the-beat romance Expired is one of those precariously balanced movies that might fall to pieces with a different cast.
Turns its uncomfortable central relationship into a fascinating study of symbiotic personalities.
Despite terrific efforts from its lead players, Expired runs its meter out long before the end.
Locating both Claire's loneliness and Jay's anger as partial outgrowths of their detested profession handing out parking meter violation tickets, Expired coasts along on a distinctively odd wavelength.
Both Patric and Morton give brazenly fearless performances, yet these talents are left tangoing to a tune that’s nowhere near worthy of them.
Assuming the shape of an old-fashioned indie, this offbeat romantic fable is a minor work that promises better things from its director; the narrative is considerably elevated by lead performers Jason Patric and the endlessly creative Samantha Morton.
Morton is one of those tingly actresses whose skin barely covers her soul, and to watch her search for tender mercies in a crazy-hostile world is a gift. The film is appallingly good.
How likely is it that love, not to mention hot sex, can blossom between two people who've picked identical careers dedicated to punishing the rest of us? Delightfully kinky sex and the city meter maid romp.
Evokes a relationship so acidic between a couple of meter maids that the woman would probably feel better breathing in the acidic fumes outside than putting up with her man's insults.
The movie forces us to endure so much meanness without a proper resolution at the end of it. It's all ordeal and no payoff.
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June 18, 2008:
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