Click to read the article
The Virgin Suicides (1999)
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work ![]()
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
Get This Movie
Reviews for The Virgin Suicides
Content in its bland enigmas, The Virgin Suicides is exquisitely boring.
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.
A rather stunted and sliggish exercise in style whose sporadically haunting visual quality doesn't make up for its shallowness and ponderous pace.
a disarmingly wispy film given its subject matter, which is pretty much spelled out by its title.
When a film's most sensible character commits suicide within the first 15 minutes it cannot be a good sign.
Spunky directing debut by Sofia Coppola unfortunately plays like after-school special.
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.
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.
Coppola has created a detective story without a solution and a coming-of-ager without discernable characters.
In the end, the strengths of the movie are overwhelmed by what is pretentious, unplugged and boring to boot.
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.
There are a lot of good individual elements on display, yet they never quite gel into something that completely satisfies.
Kirsten Dunst is marvelous as the most adventuresome of the girls, and Josh Hartnett is fine as the high school hunk.
It's yet another case of blame-the-parents, and, more precisely, blame-the-overprotective-mother.
Concentration on either the writing or the direction, but not both, may have spawned a better film from first-timer Sofia C.
Latest News for The Virgin Suicides
July 15, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Pretty Persuasion
One of Sundance's more buzzed-about films was the dark high school comedy "Pretty Persuasion," and now you can check out the trailer over at Quicktime's Trailer Site.... More...
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 44% 44% | Night at the Museum: B… |
| 32% 32% | Terminator Salvation |
| 36% 36% | Angels & Demons |
| 95% 95% | Star Trek |
| 25% 25% | Four Christmases |
| Tomatometer Percentage | Movie |
|---|---|
| 88% 88% | Inglourious Basterds |
| 78% 78% | The Hangover |
| 49% 49% | Taking Woodstock |
| 26% 26% | The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard |
| 47% 47% | The Girl From Monaco |
RT On Current TV
DIRECTV 358 | Comcast 107 | DISH Network 196 | More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
CloseSponsored Links
Around The Network
- The Virgin Suicides at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Virgin Suicides at IGN
Fresh Links
Featured

Techland lists the best Sci-Fi films of this decade.

Moviefone takes a look back at the biggest stinkers of the past 10 years.

The Me and Orson Welles star answers reader questions on TIME.com.

Hollywood.com's C. Robert Cargill offers his thoughts on what the best decade for film was.

In the AV Club's "Scenic Routes," Mike D'Angelo reminisces about the Tim Burton film.
Promos

Get the latest Tomatometer updates on upcoming movies!



Top Critic


