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Shortbus (2006)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 6.4/10
Reviews Counted: 119
Fresh: 78 | Rotten: 41

The sex may be explicit, but Mitchell integrates it into the characters' lives and serves the whole story up with a generous dose of sweetness and wit.

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 21 | Rotten: 16

The sex may be explicit, but Mitchell integrates it into the characters' lives and serves the whole story up with a generous dose of sweetness and wit.

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Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 53,665

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Movie Info

John Cameron Mitchell, who created a cult sensation as writer and director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, blazes a brave new trail with this comedy-drama which combines the stories of a handful of emotionally unsatisfied New Yorkers with some of the most explicit sexual material to ever appear in a mainstream motion picture. Sofia (Sook-Yin Lee) is a couples' therapist who has a major relationship problem of her own -- she's never had an orgasm, and her husband Rob (Raphael Barker) doesn't seem

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Drama, Art House & International, Gay & Lesbian, Comedy

Directed By: John Cameron Mitchell

Written By: John Cameron Mitchell

In Theaters: Oct 20, 2006 Limited

On DVD: Mar 13, 2007

Box Office:$1.9M

ThinkFilm

Shortbus Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Critic Reviews for Shortbus

All Critics (125) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (42) | DVD (12)

Shortbus is not, above all, 'dirty.' What it is, in fact, is a nice movie, one of the nicest to come down the pike since March of the Penguins.

March 4, 2008 Full Review Source: Film.com

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Mark Bourne

Film.com

Top Critic

One woman's quest for the perfect orgasm may strike sophisticated viewers as the stuff of sexual farce at best, but Sook-Yin Lee's Sofia brings both emotion and eroticism to the proceedings, and for this Mr. Mitchell should be commended.

November 1, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer

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Andrew Sarris

New York Observer

Top Critic

It runs out of energy before the end.

November 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

Wearing its controversy-courting eagerness to shock on its sleeve, the film aims to challenge taboos, but comes up short.

October 30, 2006 Comment

Colin Covert

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Top Critic

A film that's thoughtful and exuberant, achingly sad and wildly funny.

October 26, 2006 Full Review Source: Arizona Republic

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Kerry Lengel

Arizona Republic

Top Critic

Indulgent, immature, self-preoccupied and downright silly a good deal of the time, Shortbus manages to make sex look like no fun at all.

October 20, 2006 Full Review Source: Detroit News

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Tom Long

Detroit News

Top Critic

Genuinely enlivening

August 28, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Director John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and The Angry Inch") flaunts cinematic tradition with a raucous sex comedy filled with truly shocking sex acts that underscore his vision of New York as a playground of debauchery.

April 24, 2009 Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com

| Comment

Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

M�s all� de una historia y unos personajes m�s o menos logrados, Shortbus deber�a ser vista ante todo como una respuesta a la cruzada conservadora y represiva de la era Bush.

April 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total

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Enrique Buchichio

Uruguay Total

Shortbus flips through varying moods with overall success, fleshing out the characters who show flesh.

July 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

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Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

There may be a variety of erotic practices on parade here, but the film leaves viewers with few real insights into either human nature or sexuality.

July 2, 2007 Full Review Source: musicOMH.com

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Anton Bitel

musicOMH.com

Fetishists are people, too!

April 4, 2007 Full Review Source: EURWeb

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Kam Williams

EURWeb

Fetishists are people, too!

March 31, 2007 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze

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Kam Williams

NewsBlaze

Shortbus is not better than sex but it is trailblazing...and a great excuse to see attractive people putting their bits and pieces into each other.

March 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

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Ed Gonzalez

Slant Magazine

The characters' lack of any real substance--it's really only all about attitude--make one gradually lose interest until the next in flagrante delicto moment.

March 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Journal International

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David Noh

Film Journal International

a project that has brains as well as bravado. It's also very funny, which helps to diffuse much of the nervousness that its graphic sex scenes might inspire in viewers. ...an imaginative, involving and ultimately touching story.

February 22, 2007 Full Review Source: Kalamazoo Gazette

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James Sanford

Kalamazoo Gazette

Bajo la piel de una pel%uFFFDcula sexualmente muy expl%uFFFDcita hay un delicado y sensible estudio de personajes, sus relaciones, sus frustraciones, y una irreverente y fresca mirada a la Nueva York pos-11 de setiembre.

February 13, 2007 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total

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Enrique Buchichio

Uruguay Total

The hallmarks of a true collaboration between the director and his actors are everywhere, and their performances are what raise the film above any of its shortcomings.

January 31, 2007 Full Review Source: Reeler

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Michelle Orange

Reeler

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Audience Reviews for Shortbus

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I nearly turned it off in the first 20 minutes. Shocking, graphic sex. But when the main character (a sex therapist who can't achieve orgasm, played by Sook-Yin Lee) turns up at Shortbus - a sex club named after the little school buses, filled with "the challenged and the gifted," says the host - the content makes

January 13, 2012

Daniel Perry

Super Reviewer

If you go into "Shortbus" with only hearing about the graphic sex, you will be surprised to find that it's actually incredibly funny and enlightening. "Shortbus" is not for everyone, obviously, just the narrative alone could turn viewers off, let alone the nudity and real sexual contact. But, if exploring characters

December 12, 2010

Steven Carrier

Super Reviewer

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