A quick-paced, visceral and smartly acted psychodrama.
Tape (2001)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:89
Fresh:68
Rotten:21
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Taking place in a hotel room, Tape has the feel of a play, but its engrossing psychodrama allows its stars to shine.
Theatrical Release:Nov 2, 2001 Limited
Synopsis: Richard Linklater, known for directing films that take place over a one-day period (SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE), magnifies that concept even further with TAPE. Adapted from the... Richard Linklater, known for directing films that take place over a one-day period (SLACKER, DAZED AND CONFUSED, BEFORE SUNRISE), magnifies that concept even further with TAPE. Adapted from the Stephen Belber play, TAPE takes place in a Lansing, Michigan hotel room, where two old friends reunite ten years after graduation. Vince (Ethan Hawke), a lackadaisical fire fighter who pays the rent by selling pot, and John (Robert Sean Leonard), a self-assured filmmaker whose debut feature is set to screen at the Lansing Film Festival, greet each other with smiles and hugs. But as their conversation becomes more personal, Vince brings up an old grudge from the past, which confounds John. Vince is convinced that on the night before graduation, John date-raped his ex-girlfriend, Amy (Uma Thurman), and he won't rest until John tells him what really happened. Eventually, John admits the truth, evoking a shocking response from Vince. John must finally confront the demons from his past. When Amy arrives at the hotel room and joins the old friends, she detonates the explosive situation, accusing both Vince and John of being selfish, heartless cowards, which they actually are. Shot on digital video all in one location, TAPE is a character study that features strong performances by all three leads. [More]
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard
Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard
Director: Richard Linklater
Director: Richard Linklater
Producer: Anne Walker-McBay, John Sloss, Gary Winick, Alexis Alexanian
Studio: Lions Gate Films
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Reviews for Tape
The cast ... uses this room with a view to get the best out of the spontaneous epiphanies and strangely affecting and witty dialogue.
A refreshing acting exercise for both the actors and the audience that works because of the freedom digital video extends.
As the film progresses and voices are raised the audience is dealt a very interesting and compelling film.
It's for anyone who appreciates the bitter erosion of friendship and the one-upmanship and mind games bred by festering antagonism.
Tape look simpler than it is. Linklater is well-known for making pictures where characters talk a lot, and this one's claustrophobic setting and small cast provide a tighter narrative and formal focus than usual.
"Tape" may take place entirely in a small motel room, but it packs an emotional wallop the size of an entire city.
A filmed play -- and feels like one -- but the performances are good, and the single ugly setting ... makes for an even more compellingly unpleasant confessional.
Nothing is quite deep, but the actors are utterly at home in their outbreaks and ambushes.
Unlike some other filmed plays, this one contains dialogue that sounds realistic.
Takes shape as an entertaining psychological armwrestle between rank belligerence and blustery condescension.
The actors do justice to this potent and insightful script, filling the screen with explosive energy.
Linklater is testing the boundaries of what can be done with digital video, thematically as well as visually.
For a movie set completely inside a dingy motel room, Tape is a thrilling piece of experimental cinema.
By film's end, the only rape that remains is that of words and memories.
Perhaps because they are working out emotional conflicts from high school, and Vince seems stuck at a childish emotional level, what takes place in the room seems juvenile, despite the powerful subject matter.
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