The film is confidently polished and thankfully more sweet-tempered than preachy, given that every narrative thread has an underlying theme of social injustice.
Comment
03/03/09
Explicit Ills (2008)
57
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:23
Fresh:13
Rotten:10
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Though its politics can be heavy-handed at times, Mark Webber's directorial debut is sincere and well-acted.
Theatrical Release:Mar 6, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Accomplished indie actor Mark Webber (STORYTELLING, THE HOTTEST STATE) makes an ambitious debut behind the camera with EXPLICIT ILLS. Set in the same Philadelphia streets where he himself was... [More]
Starring: Rosario Dawson, Paul Dano, Naomie Harris, Lou Taylor Pucci
Director: Mark Webber
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Reviews for Explicit Ills
The film’s cast and the fluid camerawork are as hip as can be, and in this age of Obama, so is the sentiment -- unflinching but optimistic.
03/04/09
An impressive directorial debut that manages to be a throughly compelling, honest and socially conscious drama
03/07/09
In an era of low-blow comedies and fluff action flicks, this movie will inspire you to be aware, conscious and sensitive.
06/10/09
Gorgeous to look at and touchingly sincere, Mark Webber's directorial debut makes a considerable impact despite its evident flaws.
03/06/09
Political awareness doesn't spell preachiness in slice-of-life directing debut for actor Mark Webber.
03/28/08
Mark Weber's Explicit Ills has a tenderness that belies its fiery left-leaning political views about urban poverty and social injustice.
03/05/09
Two of the cast members shine: Lou Taylor Pucci as a drug dealer who finds a new lover and baptizes himself in substance abuse, and Rosario Dawson as a mother trying to care for her asthmatic son with no health insurance.
03/04/09
Top CriticI’m looking forward to seeing what Webber comes up with next.
10/18/08
It's the best reflection of inner city life, and its effect on children, since Charles Burnett's 1977 drama Killer of Sheep.
08/28/08
Elusive narrative strands sorted out with surprising and uplifting clarity. And a determined socially conscious focus on the dismal, all too explicit diseased state of profit-ized health care in a country where patients are 'customers, not sick people.
02/16/09
Explicit Ills is a filmic tapestry, and it is a cohesive, fluid one.
04/08/08
A film that wants to speak out (loudly and clearly) about some of our nation's most obvious maladies, and it does so in an impressively honest, angry, and semi-hopeful fashion.
03/19/08
all social smoke and mirrors.
07/08/09
Webber is good with his actors, but he tries to do too much, depict a portrait of the lower-depths in Philadelphia, present a cautionary tale and call to arms, and also suggest a personal memoir or living in this particular city.
03/09/09
Despite a good cast, Explicit Ills is about as phony as it gets.
03/06/09
Top CriticThere is much to argue with, and much to regret, about a film whose director thinks he needs to drop an anvil on our heads when art would suffice.
03/06/09
Initially promising but ultimately maddening.
03/06/09
A serious social drama without insight, a unique point of view or, seemingly, much of an understanding of its own issues.
03/05/09
A movie that too often feels comprised of arty public service announcements can only be considered a lost opportunity.
03/20/09
Top CriticLatest News for Explicit Ills
March 13, 2009:
Five Favorite Films with Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson is an actress that seems equally comfortable working on smaller, independent productions (Kids, Clerks II, and her current film Explicit Ills) as she does... More...
March 05, 2009:
Critics Consensus: Watch Watchmen, But Caveat Emptor
This week at the movies, we've got Watchmen, the long-awaited adaptation of Alan Moore's classic graphic novel directed by Zack Snyder and starring Billy Crudup and Carla... More...
March 01, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
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