Stone (2010)
Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 94
Fresh: 48 | Rotten: 46
Stone boasts a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich, and it features strong dialogue, but it's ultimately undone by its heavy-handed symbolism and overabundant plot twists.
Average Rating: 6.3/10
Critic Reviews: 27
Fresh: 16 | Rotten: 11
Stone boasts a cast that includes Robert De Niro, Edward Norton, and Milla Jovovich, and it features strong dialogue, but it's ultimately undone by its heavy-handed symbolism and overabundant plot twists.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.5/5
User Ratings: 15,933
My Rating
Movie Info
A convicted arsonist schemes to get out of prison by convincing his debauched wife to seduce his retirement-ready parole officer in director John J. Curran's adaptation of a play by Angus MacLachlan (who also authored the screenplay). His career as a parole officer winding down after years of service, Jack Mabry (Robert De Niro) reluctantly accepts an assignment to reassess inmate Gerald "Stone" Creeson's (Edward Norton) case for an upcoming parole hearing. Convicted of setting a fire to make
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Robert De Niro
Jack, Jack Mabry -
Edward Norton
Gerald "Stone" Creeson,... -
Milla Jovovich
Lucetta, Lucetta Creeso... -
Frances Conroy
Madylyn, Madylyn Mabry -
Enver Gjokaj
Young Jack -
Pepper Binkley
Young Madylyn -
Sandra Love Aldridge
Miss Dickerson -
Greg Trzaskoma
Guard Peters -
Rachel Loiselle
Candace -
Kylie Tarnopol
Young Candace -
Bailey Tarnopol
Young Candace -
Madison Tarnopol
Young Candace -
Peter Barent Lewis
Warden -
Sarab Kamoo
Janice -
Richard Murphy
Guard #1 -
Rich Goteri
Guard #2 -
Ron Lyons
Guard #3 -
Dave Hendricks
Pastor -
Wayne David Parker
Frank -
Madeline Loiselle
Lead Teacher Amanda -
Linda Boston
Lead Teacher -
Jan Cartwright
Madylyn's Friend #1, Ne... -
Wallace Bridges
Police Captain -
James Oscar Lee
Sincere Inmate #1 -
Marcus Sailor
Sincere Inmate #2 -
Brian Peters
Inmate #1, Teach -
David Strohschein
Inmate #2 -
Jason Waugh
Inmate #3 -
Lamonte Bell
Inmate #4 -
-
Jordyn Thomas
Child -
Rory Mallon
Walters -
Trudy Mason
Bobby's Widow -
Sammy Publes
Liquor Store Owner -
Tevis R. Marcum
Lucetta's Man #1 -
Mark Jonathan Stanley
Lucetta's Man #2 -
Rod McIntosh
Lucetta's Man #3 -
Jane Burkey
Madylyn's Friend #2 -
Connie Cowper
Madylyn's Friend #3 -
Bonnie Clevering
Madylyn's Friend #4 -
John Lewis
Black Inmate -
Chris Nolte
White Power Inmate #1 -
Tobiasz Daszkiewicz
White Power Inmate #2 -
Troy Coulon
Ex-Con -
Mike Shreeman
Larry -
Thomas Mahard
Some Guy -
Kitty Joy Schur
Girl -
Tom Lowell
Infirmary Guard -
Banzai Vitale
ND Driver
ADVERTISEMENT
Stone Trailer & Photos
All Critics (94) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (47) | DVD (5)
A disconcerting and challenging film. It leaves you wondering. How cool is that?
Top CriticYou can feel the movie's gears grinding throughout, first in the rote suspense mechanics and later in the ham-fisted religiosity (conveyed through an endless soundtrack of evangelistic talk radio).
Stone is that rare film that refuses to be easy.
As in every good dialogue-driven film, talk equals action. The excitement here is sparked by the verbal and gestural give-and-take between the actors.
An ambiguous film boasting a quartet of mesmerizing performances...
The craftsmanship is impeccable as is the acting, but the storytelling is where the movie falls down. And with such a poorly realized narrative, it's hard to be enthusiastic about the many things Stone does right.
Stone is a flawed film, largely because Lucetta is a B-movie seductress preying on believable human beings with backgrounds and complicated hearts.
A prisoner and parole officer grapple with sins and the need for redemption in this subtle drama of parallel lives.
It's got something to say. What that something is, though -- besides a four character study in spiritual decay -- is sort of up to you.
Stone is an unusual film which shifts uneasily between sleaze and philosophy, but it's distinguished at all times by three luminous performances.
Great performances from the cast in this engrossing drama.
Stone ultimately feels more confounding rather than profound, (but) it will have you thinking after its credits have rolled.
An engrossing drama about the difficulty people have believing in forgiveness or in turning one's life around.
A murky bible belt noir steeped in mystical evangelical voodoo more suited to sci-fi. In which De Niro seems to turn back into Travis Bickle minus his taxi, while Norton finds Jesus, loses his dreadlocks and becomes a self-described tuning fork for God.
Dark and disturbing, this drama holds our interest due to the strong acting and provocative issues swirling around in the story. But it's a little heavy-handed in its desire to convey something important.
This film has the kind of suspense where you know something bad is going to happen, but instead of just getting it over with, the film drags it out way too long.
Seems as weary as the Detroit parole caseworker Robert De Niro plays.
When did Robert De Niro stop trying? When did he start coasting on his well-deserved reputation, either mocking it in crass comedies or sleepwalking through dramas where fans filled in the missing emotions for him?
Set up as a familiar noir plot, the film veers off into unexpected places, keeping the audience guessing as to the main characters' motivations well after the credits roll.
Like a celluloid 'American Gothic,''Stone' does not paint a pretty picture.
There's an obvious difference between elegant underplaying and merely going through the motions, and while, say, Michael Caine still excels at the former, De Niro has sadly become a master of the latter.
Stone is a movie about fragile souls. About how fragile we all are.
With its excess of blatant symbolism and illogical character turns, what could have been a halfway decent exploration of personal ethics turns into a half-assed excuse for entertainment.
Watching these three actors burrow like ticks into the underbelly of John Curran's murky moral drama should be enough of a reason to recommend Stone, and it almost is.
A 'serious' intent and an ill-fitting hilljack argot reduce Stone to a pebble of a fil
If only one character in Stone reacted as someone in his position would to the preposterous situation at hand, the movie would be 15 minutes long.
Audience Reviews for Stone
Super Reviewer
As an actor Robert De Niro has not done work this good since his performance in John Frankenheimer's brilliant Ronin. He has spent over ten years putting out lazy work, but here he give us slow burning work as a parole officer who is slowly losing himself. Nothing still quite matches Edward Norton's work here. He once again proves that he is truly one of the best actors working today. His title character is disturbing and enigmatic mix of a man who instead of losing himself, finds himself again. Milla Jovovich is also quite impressive here and give us one of the most dangerous femme fatales in any film for a long time.
In film that rests highly on it's actors shoulders, this is a film that can count it's actors 100%. This cast does not fail to amaze. Stone might be too demanding and talky for impatient viewers, but people who appreciate good acting and well written dialogue will enjoy this surprising and dark tale. Curran has created a dreamlike film with disturbing tone ans poetic visual language. It is very interesting to see where John Curran is aiming next time as a director. He is definetly a talent with more potential than dozen of today's directors.
Super Reviewer
-
- Stone: They say the sound part comes first. They say, when you experience a spiritual truth, that it comes to you as a sound that goes through you, changes your vibration, gets you back in the harmony. Like God's tuning fork or something... And then, if you let that happen to you, then you get the light, you get an illumination.
-
- Stone: Things they say go on forever - like... what's that mean, you know? The sky, like, they say the sky goes on forever. But what is that really? That's - I mean, you can't see nothing you can't see, so... it's like a big bowl of blue above you. You can see clouds during the day or you can see stars at night maybe, but even with a telescope you can't see forever. So how do they know?
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Stone yet.
Latest News on Stone
October 8, 2010:
Critics Consensus: Secretariat Is A Solid BetThis week at the movies, we've got a legendary racehorse (Secretariat, starring Diane Lane and John...
October 4, 2010:
De Niro and Norton Talk StoneIn a new interview with the Los Angeles Times, Robert De Niro and Edward Norton discuss their...
What's Hot On RT
Every Star Trek movie listed
Star Trek is Certified Fresh
Forest Whitaker serves the White House
Trailer for Tom Hanks thriller
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Will Smith to Star in Wild Bunch Remake? 30
- Critics Consensus: Star Trek Into Darkness is Certified Fresh 84
- Red Carpet Roundup: Star Trek Into Darkness Edition 0
- Video Interviews with Katie Aselton & Lake Bell of Black Rock 2
- VIP Access: Eli Roth talks Aftershock 1
- Total Recall: Star Trek Movies 88
- Parental Guidance: Star Trek Into Darkness 18
Top Headlines
-
J.J. Abrams Talks Star Trek Into Darkness, Star Wars, and More
0
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Begin a New Trilogy
4
-
Mickey Rourke Confirmed for Expendables 3
3
-
Brad Bird Still Mulling Incredibles 2
0
-
Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, and Martin Short Join Inherent Vice
0
-
Bruce Willis Makes an Expiration Date
2
-
Drew Pearce Hired for Mission: Impossible 5
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
The film is a prison drama centered around a parole officer nearing retirement who gets locked into a psychological duel with a convicted arsonist and the man's alluring wife-both of whom will do what it takes to convince the officer to help make early release possible.
The film is all about control, manipulation, psychological games, and the motifs of religious belief, guilt, and temptation. Much of it is quite well done, but the rest is a little iffy, and could have been handled better, particularly how the narrative is executed.
I do like the performances though, because those are definitely the highlight. Robert De Niro and Edward Norton reteam for the first time since The Score, and they are very impressive to watch, mostly because they are both acting somewhat against type. The really impressive person here though, is Milla Jovovich. She gives a very compelling and convincing performance without ever getting to over the top. It's a real treat to see her in action.
Give this one a chance. It's flawed, but decent and compelling enough to warrant a viewing.