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Movies / On DVD / Morvern Callar
Morvern Callar

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Morvern Callar (2002)

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Reviews Counted:76

Fresh:64

Rotten:12

Average Rating:7.1/10

Consensus: Morton quietly makes this quirky, enigmatic mood piece a compelling watch.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Dec 20, 2002 Limited

Synopsis: The role of the aimless young rebel hiding behind an emotional wall and steely eyes has been monopolized by men in the movies since James Dean. Samantha Morton, one of her generation's most gifted... The role of the aimless young rebel hiding behind an emotional wall and steely eyes has been monopolized by men in the movies since James Dean. Samantha Morton, one of her generation's most gifted actors, makes the most of her opportunity to embody such a figure in her role as the title character of MORVERN CALLAR. Momentarily frozen by the suicide of her boyfriend, Morvern mines two words from his brief suicide note: be brave. Finally removing his body from the apartment floor, she buries her boyfriend, pocketing the funeral money he left. She also courts publishers, claiming authorship of the novel he left behind as his legacy. Her new financial freedom and sense of mortality brings Morvern, joined by her coworker Lana (Kathleen McDermott), out of her bleak surroundings to a Spanish resort where the two are surrounded by fellow clubbers. Lynne Ramsay (RATCATCHER) evokes emotion through landscape as Morvern and Lana flee the dreary Scottish winter for a Spanish coastal town bathed in sunlight. Working from Alan Warner's novel, Ramsay uses powerful imagery and a soundtrack vacillating between contemplative silence, abrasive sound effects, and hip music to create a purely cinematic work, avoiding the trappings of an adaptation. [More]

Starring: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Duncan McHardy

Starring: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Duncan McHardy, Dolly Wells, Jim Wilson

Director: Lynne Ramsay

Director: Lynne Ramsay
Screenwriter: Lynne Ramsay, Liana Dognini
Producer: George Faber, Charles Pattinson, Robyn Slovo
Studio: Cowboy Pictures

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Release:

Nov 30, 1999

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for Morvern Callar

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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"Shocking and exhilarating."

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
10/24/03
Marcy Dermansky
Marcy Dermansky
About.com

Morton finds a wealth of nuance in anomie and neurasthenia.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
07/19/03
Richard Nilsen
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A mesmerizing conundrum of a suspended life in perpetual motion.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
07/16/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
03/10/03
Kimberly Jones
Kimberly Jones
Austin Chronicle

Morton's ethereal looks make her a perfect canvas for Ramsay, but there's an enigmatic energy behind her wide-eyed expression that's intriguing way beyond the end of the film.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
10/13/02
Laura Bushell
Laura Bushell
BBC

Even if both films are about accidental sinners, Morvern Callar turns out to be a very different, and more difficult, film than Ratcatcher.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
04/18/03
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
07/02/03
Boston Phoenix

Ramsay succeeds primarily with her typical blend of unsettling atmospherics, delivering a series of abrasive, stylized sequences that burn themselves upon the viewer's memory.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
10/20/02
Chris Wiegand
Chris Wiegand
Boxoffice Magazine

Samantha Morton plays Morvern with the impressive lack of self-consciousness that has become her trademark.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
12/25/02
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

We watch Samantha Morton so closely, with such fascination, because she is able to embody a universe of wounded privacy.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/31/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Ramsay, as in Ratcatcher, remains a filmmaker with an acid viewpoint and a real gift for teasing chilly poetry out of lives and settings that might otherwise seem drab and sordid.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
01/30/03
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

[Morton is] completely unguarded, and every moment is painfully, beautifully genuine.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
01/20/03
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

Among the year's most intriguing explorations of alientation.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
12/23/02
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

There was time on that second round to see the subtleties of Ramsay's portrait of grief.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
01/16/03
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

Fails in making this character understandable, in getting under her skin, in exploring motivation...Well before the end, the film grows as dull as its characters, about whose fate it is hard to care.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
10/10/02
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
12/15/03
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

As opaque as the movie is, it's redeemed by Ms. Morton's superb, disaffected performance.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
04/10/03
Gary Dowell
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Morton uses her face and her body language to bring us Morvern's soul, even though the character is almost completely deadpan.

Full Review Source: Dallas Observer | comment Comment
04/11/03
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Dallas Observer

Appealing? Not exactly. But Morvern Callar ... is a strange and evocative work that's not easy to dismiss.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
03/28/03
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Too often mistaking obscurity for complexity and moodiness for depth, director Lynn Ramsay squanders an intriguing premise and a layered performance by Samantha Morton.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
01/31/03
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News
 
 
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