The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Boy Erased
Ant-Man and the Wasp
American Vandal
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Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
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Critic Consensus: No consensus yet.
All Critics (9) | Top Critics (2) | Fresh (8) | Rotten (1) | DVD (3)
At times the perversely slow beat of each scene can irritate, but that's a reasonable price for the film's super-saturated atmosphere.
Its evocation of tough-guy glamour is ridiculously stilted. And it regards the past with absolutely no perspective or wit.
An excoriation of Reagan-era nostalgia for the Fifties
A strange, but compelling amalgam of art film and homage to the American International Pictures biker flicks of the 1960s.
Bigelow's first feature, co-written and co-directed with Monty Montgomery, is a nihilistic meditation on 1950s biker flicks, featuring Willem Dafoe in his first screen role.
Mostly concerned about how it looks and not too concerned about its story or in making great observations.
A slightly hallucinatory homage to The Wild Ones.
Intelligent, provocative, camp, indulgent, erotic, occasionally frustrating, and often brilliant.
A minor classic of a certain attitude.
Did this movie have a story? You can't even tell, since nothing happens at all. I did not care for this movie, and I don't recommend it.
Super Reviewer
Kathryn Bigelow's feature debut is an assured, vibrant and detailed biker flick set in evocative 50's small town America. There's not much in the way of plot and the script is basic (but natural) and much of the pleasure of the film is in the way it looks more than what is being said. Interesting that the bikers themselves are rather a peaceful bunch, more interested in shooting the breeze, drinking cola and listening to rock n roll on the jukebox than causing any real trouble - it's the locals, their prejudices, and the sins of a father that lead to the brief but memorable violence. A fascinating flim.
It was worth it to see Willem Dafoe as a fifties biker in the same light as The Wild One, but the script was just not strong enough. It had a lot of bizarre stereotypes for the time that just didn't fit and almost nothing happened until the very end. I liked a lot of the cinematography and it really could have been a great movie if it would've had a more interesting plot and supporting characters.
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