Tetro (2009)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: A complex meditation on family dynamics, Tetro's arresting visuals and emotional core compensate for its uneven narrative.
Tetro Videos
Tetro Photos
Movie Info
Watch it now
Cast
as Tetro
as Bennie
as 'Alone'
as Carlo/Alfie
as Miranda
as Jose
as Ana
as Angela
as Josefina
as Maria Luisa
as Amalia
as Naomi
as Young Tetro
as Abelardo
as Silvana
as Herself
as Lili
News & Interviews for Tetro
Critic Reviews for Tetro
All Critics (101) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (72) | Rotten (29) | DVD (4)
Unabashedly theatrical and richly cinematic, even when it's falling apart...
Tetro is a movie filled with splashes of brilliance rather than being a plain brilliant movie.
Tetro is, in many ways, a thematic and spiritual cousin to Rumble Fish, another tale of an innocent who idolizes his older brother and craves his affection more than he should.
What threatens to be a mere exercise in style proves to be as involving as it is inventive.
While Coppola seems revitalized by quoting from movies he studied at UCLA film school, what ultimately makes Tetro so compelling is the filmmaker's return to the motifs that made his 1970s films powerful.
What makes it eminently watchable is the craft. Cinematographer Mihai Malaimare Jr. films in luscious widescreen monochrome that looks almost wet. Osvaldo Golijov's score is another pleasure.
Audience Reviews for Tetro
How incredibly frustrating it is to see a movie so compelling, wonderfully directed, technically exemplary and with a gorgeous cinematography go into self-destruction mode in the last thirty minutes, when it gives in to predictable revelations and silly situations worthy of a lame soap-opera.
Super Reviewer
Carlo: What has happened to our family? Bennie: Rivalry. "Every family has a past." Tetro is a beautifully shot and acted film. It is filmed in black and white against, with Argentina as a setting. The career of Francis Ford Coppola is filled with masterpieces and a couple disasters, most notably Jack. Tetro is in-between. It is incredibly well made, but comes off as a little overly artsy at times. I enjoyed it, but I can see it being a little off-putting. The story concerns two brothers. Bennie is the youngest, and is sensitive and emotional. The other is Tetro, who is the oldest and seems mean spirited in the beginning, but as we learn the back story it makes more and more sense. The two brothers haven't seen each other in a decade, when Bennie shows up at Tetro's apartment. Tetro had left for a writing sabbatical, leaving a note for Bennie, saying he would come back and get him. That never happened and Bennie is hurt by it. He just wants to be close to his brother, but Tetro left the family a long time ago. They strike up some sort of relationship as we slowly piece together the family's story. It all leads to a plot, I don't want to say twist, but sharp right turn would work. Everything about the movie is beautiful. The scenery, the cinematography, the performances from Vincent Gallo, Alden Ehenreich, and Maribel Verdú, and of course Coppola's signature touch. The only real problem I have with the movie is there's about a twenty to thirty minute period in the middle that just dragged. But the beginning and ending are great. What you need to know about the movie is that it is extremely slow and relies much more on character, over plot. It could easily come off as boring, but it is always marvelous to look at. Plus Vincent Gallo always keeps the viewer interested.
Super Reviewer
When is this fucking picture supposed to take place? 1970's? 1940's? now? judging by Vincent's outfits, it should be 1979, except he dresses like that everyday on and off the sets of movies. i think his mother brought him home from the hospital with women's bell-bottoms and red boots on. its pretty funny to watch him in 90% of his scenes with an unlit cigarette in his mouth and it just sits there like a funny hat. he moves it around with his teeth, takes it in and out between words, and the few times you see him light it, no smoke comes out of his mouth. so i think he's trying some of those new toothpicks that are designed to look like cigarettes. he doesn't smoke in real life. as a Vincenzo obsessor, i can say this is one of his best works in terms of just being an italian prick. this is also apparently the first film he had rehearsed for, which shows because you can see the prickiness in his eyes in every shot. and when he lights his cigarettes and doesn't even take the energy to inhale, you can just tell he fucking hates people really hard. Vincent Gallo mumbles the word "asshole" in his sleep.
Super Reviewer
Tetro Quotes
There are no approved quotes yet for this movie.
Discussion Forum
Discuss Tetro on our Movie forum!