Late in this meandering film, Rogers' romantic infidelities and the onset of illness add some much-needed dynamics, but even when it's just shooting the breeze, The Windmill Movie is captivating.
Comment
09/30/09
The Windmill Movie (2009)
84
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:19
Fresh:16
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.1/10
Theatrical Release:Jun 17, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Richard P. Rogers (1943-2001) was a NYC baby boomer, born to privilege: a Harvard-educated WASP who became a first-rate independent filmmaker (QUARRY and ELEPHANTS both opened at Film Forum in the... [More]
Director: Alexander Olch
Reviews for The Windmill Movie
1 - 19 (sorted by date)
This movie should be unbearable; instead it's grotesquely fascinating. Rogers' striking early short Quarry precedes the main feature, demonstrating the man's considerable talent.
07/31/09
Although the format will be familiar to fans of Tarnation and Capturing the Friedmans, the result comes closer to Fellini's autobiographical 8 ½.
07/23/09
A remarkable documentary attempt to reconcile Rogers’s sense of personal, professional, and artistic malaise, which culminated in his decades-long attempt to make a film about his life.
07/16/09
Top CriticUnfortunately, a man died (from cancer) in the making of this explicitly introspective life tome; it was the only way he saw to complete his masterpiece.
07/16/09
Olch doesn't make it easy to identify with Rogers and his stylish existence, but that choice begins to pay off gradually as the fragments start to add up to something more.
07/01/09
Top CriticThere hasn’t been as good a film of this type in this country since Tarnation, which means Olch’s movie is a treat and a surprise no one should pass on.
06/25/09
The ongoing, deeply personal introspection that permeates the picture gives it the haunting feel of a séance.
06/22/09
One gets swept up in the first soapy, then tragic melodrama of the life matter that overwhelmed Rogers' desire/compulsion/ability to make art.
06/21/09
Maybe Edwards has some crazy intent to try and offer his reel to God himself and get a pass. Whatever the case, he leaves one heck of a masterpiece for us mortals.
06/19/09
There's something worth valuing in a documentary that would be a worthy companion piece to both Grey Gardens and Synecdoche, New York.
06/18/09
From the wall-to-wall piano score to Rogers’ tedious navel-gazing, The Windmill Movie renders prosaic and pretentious the churning conflict behind the process of artistic creation.
06/18/09
The examined life may be the only one worth living, but as The Windmill Movie profoundly illustrates, it's no guarantee of happiness.
06/18/09
Top CriticA warm portrait of the fascinating Richard P. Rogers, an experimental filmmaker.
06/17/09
Top Critica heady combination of Synecdoche, New York, Annie Hall, Peeping Tom, and It's All True but all the more compelling because The Windmill Movie is all true.
06/17/09
A mind-bending autobiography by proxy.
06/17/09
The Windmill Movie is a version of the autobiography of Richard P. Rogers that might have been.
06/17/09
Top CriticIn finishing what was left undone, Olch's tribute to his mentor is more an act of hubris than humility.
06/16/09
Top CriticA stirring autobiography-by-proxy.
09/24/08
1 - 19 (sorted by date)
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