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13 Conversations About One Thing (2002)

tomatometer

82

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 108
Fresh: 89 | Rotten: 19

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is an intelligent and poignant look at lives intersecting.

76

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 25
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 6

Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is an intelligent and poignant look at lives intersecting.

audience

65

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 7,654

My Rating

Movie Info

Following up on her acclaimed debut, Clockwatchers, Jill Sprecher spins this intricate ensemble film about life's big questions. Set in New York City, the film focuses on five different characters with radically different perspectives on life. Gene (Alan Arkin) manages a large insurance company and is a compulsive pessimist, constantly bursting the bubbles of his more cheery colleagues. Walker (John Turturro), who holds a similarly bleak view of the world, decides that he cannot stand another

Nov 19, 2002

$3.0M

Sony Pictures Classics

Cast

All Critics (120) | Top Critics (29) | Fresh (89) | Rotten (19) | DVD (11)

Resonates with intelligence and a poignancy.

July 20, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
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Without getting grand or preachy, the Sprechers use an unconventional approach to coax us into asking ourselves fundamental questions.

July 11, 2002 Comment
Orlando Sentinel
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Often messy and frustrating, but very pleasing at its best moments, it's very much like life itself.

July 10, 2002 Full Review Source: Toronto Star | Comment
Toronto Star
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Smart, serious and deftly composed.

July 5, 2002 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | Comment
Globe and Mail
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Each of these stories has the potential for Touched by an Angel simplicity and sappiness, but Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, for all its generosity and optimism, never resorts to easy feel-good sentiments.

July 4, 2002 Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | Comment
Chicago Tribune
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Smart and alert, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing is a small gem.

June 21, 2002 Full Review Source: Sacramento Bee | Comment
Sacramento Bee
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lends higher philosophical and spiritual tone ... without preaching

July 8, 2011 Full Review Source: Old School Reviews | Comment

A terrific film that follows several interrelated New York stories and the people barely existing within them.

December 1, 2005 Full Review Source: Bangor Daily News (Maine) | Comment
Bangor Daily News (Maine)

Poignant, touching, and even philosophical, the film examines the unanticipated impact of seeminaly disparate events on our search for meaning and happiness through five interwoven stories.

November 30, 2005 Comment

Clea DuVall again shows why she's one of Hollywood's most under-rated actresses

June 18, 2005 Full Review Source: ViewLondon | Comment (1)
ViewLondon

So packed with intriguing ideas that it's well worth seeing, even if it feels rather clinical and aloof.

April 6, 2005 Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | Comment
Shadows on the Wall

Playfully wavers on the meaning of true happiness, the notion of karma and luck, and the possibility of hope.

August 13, 2004 Full Review Source: Oregon Herald | Comment

Deposita suas energias nos entrecruzamentos de seus personagens e se esquece de que, teoricamente, deveria girar em torno das visões destes sobre o mundo.

July 16, 2004 Comment
Cinema em Cena

How many movies offer up frank discussions based on existentialism?

August 1, 2003 Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | Comment
Reel Film Reviews

A dry, dim-looking film that's more about clever structure than meaningful stories.

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Offoffoff | Comment
Offoffoff
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for 13 Conversations About One Thing

Several intertwining stories in this elegant confusion of an ensemble piece of a small film about THE MEANING OF LIFE (only w/o the capital letters). Excellent performances abound.

June 26, 2011
moonrivers

Super Reviewer

One of those intertwining ensemble stories that almost makes it but not quite. The titular "one thing" isn't always clear. It could be several things: fortune, happiness, love, guilt, faith, trust, fate, coincidence, et cetera. All the individual stories are really quite beautiful though, with moments of deep

April 13, 2011
aliceinpunderland

Super Reviewer

    1. Gene: Show me a happy man and I'll show you a disaster waiting to happen.
    – Submitted by Chad E (5 months ago)

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