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Movies / On DVD / The Virgin Suicides
The Virgin Suicides

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The Virgin Suicides (1999)

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Reviews Counted:91

Fresh:70

Rotten:21

Average Rating:7/10

Consensus: Sofia's successful directorial debut lies in the movie's compelling story and the actors' genuine emotions.

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Based on the 1993 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES tells the dreamlike tale of the Lisbons, a family living in a sheltered 1970s suburbia. When Cecilia (Hannah Hall), the youngest of... Based on the 1993 novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, THE VIRGIN SUICIDES tells the dreamlike tale of the Lisbons, a family living in a sheltered 1970s suburbia. When Cecilia (Hannah Hall), the youngest of the five teenage Lisbon daughters, inexplicably commits suicide, the rest of the family--Mr. Lisbon (James Woods), an awkward high school math teacher; Mrs. Lisbon (Kathleen Turner), a stern, humorless housewife; and the four remaining sisters: Lux (Kirsten Dunst), Bonnie (Chelse Swain), Mary (A.J. Cook), and Therese (Leslie Hayman)--recedes into a morbid cloud of repression and denial. As the girls are forced to retreat from everyday life by their conservative mother, they become the subject of fascination for a group of neighborhood boys, who narrate the story and hope to rescue the girls from their listless confinement. The first feature by director-screenwriter Sofia Coppola (Francis Ford Coppola's daughter), THE VIRGIN SUICIDES is a mesmerizingly atmospheric film that perfectly captures both the moody tone of the book and the light-saturated feel of the 1970s. Dunst gives a standout performance as the promiscuous Lux, who becomes the sole obsession of high school ladies' man Trip Fontaine (Josh Hartnett). The movie also includes cameos by Danny DeVito and Scott Glenn. In addition to songs by Heart and Todd Rundgren, the film features an evocative score by the French duo Air. [More]

Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett

Starring: James Woods, Kathleen Turner, Kirsten Dunst, Josh Hartnett, Hannah Hall, A.J. Cook, Chelse Swain, Danny DeVito, Scott Glenn, Jonathan Tucker, Leslie Hayman, Anthony DeSimone, Michelle Duquet, Michael Paré

Director: Sofia Coppola

Director: Sofia Coppola
Screenwriter: Sofia Coppola
Producer: Dan Halsted, Chris Hanley, Francis Ford Coppola, Julie Costanzo
Composer: Air

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Dec 12, 2000

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Virgin Suicides

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
03/24/02
Boston Phoenix
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Content in its bland enigmas, The Virgin Suicides is exquisitely boring.

Full Review Source: Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus | comment Comment
01/01/00
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer
Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus

Both accomplished in its direction and marred by freshman mistakes.

Full Review Source: Matinee Magazine | comment Comment
05/01/01
Chuck Rudolph
Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine

Too much of Coppola's direction ... is devoted to scoring easy points against the squares of suburbia and their hideous home decor to create a properly magical atmosphere.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Citysearch

A rather stunted and sliggish exercise in style whose sporadically haunting visual quality doesn't make up for its shallowness and ponderous pace.

Full Review Source: One Guy's Opinion | comment Comment
12/06/05
Frank Swietek
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion

a disarmingly wispy film given its subject matter, which is pretty much spelled out by its title.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment Comment
09/10/01
Glenn Kenny
Glenn Kenny
Premiere Magazine

When a film's most sensible character commits suicide within the first 15 minutes it cannot be a good sign.

Full Review Source: Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL) | comment 1 Comment
06/18/02
Jeffrey Westhoff
Jeffrey Westhoff
Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)

Spunky directing debut by Sofia Coppola unfortunately plays like after-school special.

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
04/04/01
Jim Bartoo
Jim Bartoo
Hollywood.com

The film just bored me stupid. Very few laughs, even less memorable scenes, and definitely not an 'entertainment' film, by any stretch of the imagination.

Full Review Source: JoBlo's Movie Emporium | comment Comment
01/01/00
JoBlo
JoBlo
JoBlo's Movie Emporium

Though she wisely foregoes drawing simplistic conclusions from a story brimming with unanswerable questions, Coppola doesn't scratch very far below the surface of this enigmatic fairy tale.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kasia Anderson
Kasia Anderson
Reel.com

Coppola has created a detective story without a solution and a coming-of-ager without discernable characters.

Full Review Source: Mr. Showbiz | comment Comment
01/01/00
Kevin Maynard
Kevin Maynard
Mr. Showbiz
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Short on real insight.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Louis B. Hobson
Louis B. Hobson
Jam! Movies

In the end, the strengths of the movie are overwhelmed by what is pretentious, unplugged and boring to boot.

Full Review Source: Cincinnati Enquirer | comment 1 Comment
10/15/02
Margaret A. McGurk
Margaret A. McGurk
Cincinnati Enquirer

I am tired of seeing male adolescent sexual fantasies as deeply symbolic of life, the universe, and everything. But these are the themes The Virgin Suicides wants so desperately to present to us as fresh and new.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
01/01/00
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

There are a lot of good individual elements on display, yet they never quite gel into something that completely satisfies.

Full Review Source: TheMovieReport.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Michael Dequina
Michael Dequina
TheMovieReport.com

Kirsten Dunst is marvelous as the most adventuresome of the girls, and Josh Hartnett is fine as the high school hunk.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
01/01/00
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

All style, no structure.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
04/03/02
Paula Nechak
Paula Nechak
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

It's yet another case of blame-the-parents, and, more precisely, blame-the-overprotective-mother.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
07/24/07
Rob Gonsalves
Rob Gonsalves
eFilmCritic.com

Concentration on either the writing or the direction, but not both, may have spawned a better film from first-timer Sofia C.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
04/09/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating)
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