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The Moderns (1988)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.2/10
Reviews Counted: 16
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 4

No consensus yet.

Average Rating: 5.4/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 2

No consensus yet.

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Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 801

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Movie Info

In the expatriate-littered Paris of the 1920s, painter Nick Hart (Keith Carradine) mingles with Ernest Hemingway (Kevin O'Connor) and other leading lights of the Lost Generation while palling around with gossip columnist Oiseau (Wallace Shawn), whose reportage has helped establish the international reputation of the writers and artists who fled America for France after WWI. Older and less successful than many of his fellow painters, Hart relies on gallery owner Libby Valentin (Genevieve Bujold)

R, 2 hr. 6 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Comedy

Directed By: Alan Rudolph

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1988 Wide

On DVD: Sep 17, 2002

Cast

Keith Carradine
Nick Hart
Linda Fiorentino
Rachel Stone
John Lone
Bertram Stone
Wallace Shawn
Oiseau
Genevi�ve Bujold
Libby Valentin
Geraldine Chaplin
Nathalie de Ville
Kevin J. O'Connor
Ernest Hemingway
Charlie Couture
Charley
Elsa Raven
Gertrude Stein
Ali Giron
Alice B. Toklas
Gailard Sartain
New York Critic
Michael Wilson
Surrealist Poet
Antonia Dauphin
Babette
Harry Hill
Mr. Brown
Didier Hoffman
Priest
Ranee Lee
Black Chanteuse
Beverley Murray
Eve (Group Montparno)
Meegan Lee Ochs
Francis
Michael Rudder
Buffy Buckley
Brooke Smith
Abigail
Marthe Turgeon
Rose Selavy
Timothy Webber
Stone's Business Associ...
Bob Gould
Blackie
Pierre Chagnon
Stone's Bodyguard #1
Reynald Bouchard
Chapelle
Danielle Schneider
Fille de Nuit
Paul Buissonneau
Alexandre (Group Montpa...
Hubert Loiselle
Art Critic
David Stein
Art Critic
John Lane

Critic Reviews for The Moderns

All Critics (19) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (4)

A movie that makes an afternoon with Gertrude and Alice more boring than a faculty tea.

August 4, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

It takes place at that enchanted moment in Paris when the Lost Generation created itself and then proceeded to create, promote, fabricate and publicize modern literature, art, music and attitudes.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times

| Comment

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

Top Critic

Everything is ersatz, even the surrealism in Alan Rudolph's 10th movie.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Rita Kempley

Washington Post

Top Critic

Rudolph's weaknesses pale before the film's overriding textures: Toyomichi Kurita's cinematography exquisitely crosses color with sepia and blacks and whites.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Washington Post

| Comment

Desson Thomson

Washington Post

Top Critic

A casually absurd, surprisingly playful look into the lives of American expatriates --Gertrude Stein's famous "lost generation" -- in post-World War I Paris.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

| Comment

Ken Hanke

Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Fascinating film about painters in 1920's Paris

December 13, 2004 Comment

Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Will appeal to fans of Alan Rudolph's distinctive story-telling abilities.

August 28, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

| Comment

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

The plot of the film concerns love, heartbreak, money problems, the meaning of art, alcoholism and finding one's identity.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

| Comment

Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for The Moderns

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This is a fairly enjoyable tale set in the art world of 1920s Paris. The look of the film and the mood it creates are the most important things; far more important than the enjoyable, yet slow-moving plotline.It is highly imaginative and its representation of icons such as Ernest Hemingway and Gertrude Stein add an

July 30, 2009

Cassandra Maples

Super Reviewer

"The Moderns" takes place in 1920's Paris where Nick Hart(Keith Carradine) is a starving artist who makes his living drawing cartoons to accompany the columns written by Oiseau(Wallace Shawn) in the Tribune.(Taking the high road, he has declined a commission to forge three Cezanne paintings for a wealthy soon-to-be

May 26, 2006