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Skins (2002)
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Reviews Counted:57
Fresh:34
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.9/10
Consensus: Though at times melodramatic, Skins' harsh depiction of life on the reservation is an eye-opener.
Theatrical Release:Sep 27, 2002 Limited
Synopsis: SKINS, based on the novel by Adrian C. Louis, is the impressive second feature of Native American director Chris Eyre (SMOKE SIGNALS). Filmed on location at the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation... SKINS, based on the novel by Adrian C. Louis, is the impressive second feature of Native American director Chris Eyre (SMOKE SIGNALS). Filmed on location at the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation in South Dakota, SKINS tells the story of Rudy (Eric Schweig), a policeman, and his older brother Mogie (Graham Greene of THE GREEN MILE), a jobless alcoholic. Mogie had once looked after his kid brother, but his experiences in Vietnam left him a bitter and broken man. Rudy frequently gives money to his mischievous older brother, which Mogie spends on beer. Frustrated with rampant alcoholism and crime on the "rez," Rudy becomes a vigilante. While Rudy thinks he's doing the right thing for his people, his extralegal activities lead to tragedy. SKINS is a powerful drama laced with acerbic humor. The film captures the harsh realities of Pine Ridge life with affection and wit, and breaks down negative stereotypes about Native Americans by portraying Mogie as a complex and ultimately very sympathetic human being. Eyre manages to make important points about contemporary Native American life without heavy handedness. His cast is very strong, particularly Greene, who delivers a phenomenal performance in this exceptionally moving and humane film. [More]
Starring: Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Noah Watts, Lois Red Elk
Starring: Eric Schweig, Graham Greene, Noah Watts, Lois Red Elk, Gary Farmer, Michelle Thrush, Elaine Miles
Director: Chris Eyre
Director: Chris Eyre
Screenwriter: Jennifer D. Lyne
Producer: Jon Kilik, David Pomier
Composer: B.C. Smith
Studio: First Look
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Reviews for Skins
A craving for social order and logic where there may be little or none, and lost in a sea of white values and imposed authority irrelevant to Indian pain.
To see this movie is to understand why the faces on Mount Rushmore are so painful and galling to the first Americans.
All-in-all, the film is an enjoyable and frankly told tale of a people who live among us, but not necessarily with us.
Like Rudy Yellow Lodge, Eyre needs to take a good sweat to clarify his cinematic vision before his next creation and remember the lessons of the trickster spider.
'Like a child with an important message to tell...[Skins'] faults are easy to forgive because the intentions are lofty.'
It is an observant, humane portrait of a couple of fascinatingly complex characters.
Although mainstream American movies tend to exploit the familiar, every once in a while a film arrives from the margin that gives viewers a chance to learn, to grow, to travel.
What makes Skins compelling is how it opens our eyes to conditions on the reservation.
For all its serious sense of purpose ... [it] finds a way to lay bare the tragedies of its setting with a good deal of warmth and humor.
Played by Graham Greene ... in one of the year's best performances, [Mogie's] a fully dimensional character.
There are so few films about the plight of American Indians in modern America that Skins comes as a welcome, if downbeat, missive from a forgotten front.
It’s another video movie photographed like a film, with the bad lighting that’s often written off as indie film naturalism.
Patchy combination of soap opera, low-tech magic realism and, at times, ploddingly sociological commentary.
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 77% 77% | The Hangover |
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 66% 66% | Public Enemies |
| 24% 24% | G-Force |
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 90% 90% | District 9 |
| 86% 86% | 500 Days of Summer |
| 63% 63% | Extract |
| 06% 06% | All About Steve |
| 78% 78% | It Might Get Loud |
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