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Movies / On DVD / The Young Unknowns
The Young Unknowns

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The Young Unknowns (2003)

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Reviews Counted:29

Fresh:4

Rotten:25

Average Rating:4.1/10

Consensus: A movie about uninteresting people doing uninteresting things.

Rated: R

Runtime: 87 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Apr 11, 2003 Limited

Synopsis: At his father's expensive home in the Los Angeles hills, aspiring filmmaker Charlie (Devon Gummersall) and his browbeaten girlfriend, Paloma (Arly Jover) bicker and drink until Charlie's best... At his father's expensive home in the Los Angeles hills, aspiring filmmaker Charlie (Devon Gummersall) and his browbeaten girlfriend, Paloma (Arly Jover) bicker and drink until Charlie's best friend Joe (Eion Bailey) arrives, who is another privileged, indulgent Hollywood type. Joe brings both drugs and Cassandra (Leslie Bibb), an aspiring model he has recently met. Over the course of the day, Charlie and Joe get wasted, abuse Cassandra, and alienate Paloma. But when Charlie gets news of a family tragedy, he deals with it by indulging even further, and a night on the town takes the events of the day for an even more tragic turn. Loosely based on a 1969 play by Wolfgang Bauer, THE YOUNG UNKNOWNS taps into the familiar territory of jaded, emotionally hollow twentysomethings, deriving its strength from its astute performances and sharp dialogue. Writer-director Catherine Jelski's film was finished in 2000, but not properly released until 2003--creating a buzz on the festival circuit in the interim, largely due to Gummersall's performance. Charlie is a repugnant character--spoiled, hateful, and arrogant--but in Gummersall's (best known as mild-mannered Brian Krackow or TV's MY SO_CALLED LIFE) hands, he also becomes sympathetic and vulnerable. [More]

Starring: Devon Gummersall, Eion Bailey, Leslie Bibb, Arly Jover

Starring: Devon Gummersall, Eion Bailey, Leslie Bibb, Arly Jover, S.A. Templeman

Director: Catherine Jelski

Director: Catherine Jelski
Screenwriter: Catherine Jelski
Producer: Kimberly Shane O'Hara, Eric M. Klein, Catherine Jelski
Studio: Indican Pictures

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jan 24, 2006

No Details Exist
 
 

Reviews for The Young Unknowns

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1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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The themes of degradation, spiritual hollowness and abandonment are just not conveyed with enough freshness or subtlety to impress.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
11/09/02
Rachel Sanders
Rachel Sanders
Apollo Guide

The young players here are already on their A game, but the script they were given was first draft.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
03/10/03
Kim Williamson
Kim Williamson
Boxoffice Magazine

This bleak little drama started as a play, and I'd bet that even onstage it felt contrived.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
07/20/09
Hank Sartin
Hank Sartin
Chicago Reader

There is nothing to redeem this movie, and no real reason to see it.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
04/17/03
Kevin M. Williams
Kevin M. Williams
Chicago Tribune

Rolls everything people hate about L.A. into one unattractive spitting viper of a movie.

Full Review Source: Citysearch | comment Comment
04/10/03
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Citysearch

Feels like a pity-party for a few spoiled jerks who, all things considered, don't really merit 90 minutes of my undivided attention.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
08/14/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com

They're not just Young Unknowns, they're also unintelligent, uninspired and unfailingly irritating, too.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
04/18/03
E! Online

No review available.

comment Comment
08/08/05
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

A film of probative quietude with fiercely invested in performances; in small ways perceptive and intelligent but overall too lackadaisical in its intellectual application to leave upon viewers more than a faint, passing memory.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Today | comment Comment
04/21/03
Brent Simon
Brent Simon
Entertainment Today

[A] thoroughly obnoxious drama.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
08/28/02
Bill Chambers
Bill Chambers
Film Freak Central

The film wants to be a revealing character study of aimless Hollywood wannabes, but the story is just not compelling enough to make the viewer care.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
12/06/05
Chris Parcellin
Chris Parcellin
Film Threat

The film wants to be a revealing character study of aimless Hollywood wannabes, but the story is just not compelling enough to make the viewer care.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
04/22/03
Chris Parcellin
Chris Parcellin
Film Threat

Our only experienced emotion is boredom, followed closely by annoyance.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
03/27/03
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A curious exercise in the vein of David Rabe's Hurlyburly that needed greater dramatic heft than is exhibited by the industry lightweights it depicts.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Reporter | comment Comment
04/15/03
Luke Sader
Luke Sader
Hollywood Reporter

The claustrophobic and static movie is in bad need of some opening up.

Full Review Source: Internet Reviews | comment Comment
08/28/02
Steve Rhodes
Steve Rhodes
Internet Reviews

The film is tough going for all the wrong reasons.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
04/17/03
Mark Olsen
Mark Olsen
L.A. Weekly

[an] eloquent, damning case against American culture and family

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Alternative | comment Comment
09/30/04
Jay Antani
Jay Antani
Los Angeles Alternative

It is a harrowing experience, anchored by the solid portrayal by young Devon Gummersall.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
04/17/03
Kevin Thomas
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The writing and the lead performance of Devon Gummersall in Catherine Jelski's The Young Unknowns makes this spoiled rich kid movie almost tolerable.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/22/03
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

L.A. inconsequential.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
04/11/03
Megan Lehmann
Megan Lehmann
New York Post
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by source)
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