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| Tape
Year: 2001
Classification: Drama
Directed:
- Richard Linklater
Actors/Actresses:
- Ethan Hawke
- Robert Sean Leonard
A Reunion of Sorts
It's not easy to make a film work when the whole thing takes place in a single room, but Linklater and Hawke make it happen in TAPE. It's the story of two old high school buddies who meet up in a hotel room and discuss their friendship and then their rivalry. Ethan Hawke is still angry that Robert Sean Leonard made some whoopee with Hawke's high school girlfriend, Uma Thurman and Hawke wants Leonard to admit that it was rape. They go so far as to invite Thurman to the hotel room and discuss it with her. Did he or didn't he?
Director Richard Linklater handles the material well, it was based on a stage play, and the actors hold their own. Hawke and Leonard, you'll remember were roommates in Dead Poet's Society and Thurman is married to the Hawke, so it is quite a labor of love among friends. I enjoyed the film all the way through but it isn't something I am likely to watch again. A nice one-time event.
Claustrophobic Masterpiece
Wow. Ok, so that is a pathetic way to start a movie review. But my god, what a movie.
Tape is directed by Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Waking Life) and stars Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman. They are the only cast members of the film and the entire feature takes place in a single motel room.
The film was shot on digital and the opening sequences had me dreading yet another movie that is to showcase the direction and film quality with no real plot. I could not have been more wrong.
There are very few films that can be carried merely by the dialogue of the actors. Tape is one of them. As the credits started rolling, both my husband and I were sitting in awe with our mouths hanging open. And the amazing thing is, while I knew what was happening and even predicted the ending, I was still completely captivated as I watched it unravel.
It's very realistic in presentation. Though by the end, you still don't know what the true reality of the film was. But I think that's how it's supposed to be. Very reflective of life. The difference between true fact (if there is such a thing) and the perceptions of the people involved. The effect that intention has on a situation.
I highly recommend this movie, especially if you liked Before Sunrise and Waking Life. Though beyond being based on dialogue, Tape is in a league of its own.
A suspenseful, superbly acted piece of 'Motel Hell'
Alright, I'll just let it fly right now: I don't think I've seen a movie since Dead Poet's Society in which Ethan Hawke doesn't kinda blow. He's not so believable in Linklater's Before Sunrise, got undeserved acclaim for Training Day, and pretty much destroys the art of acting in Taking Lives. So it was a nice surprise to see him not suck after Linklater's fascinating, superbly acted (holy crap, I just said that about an Ethan Hawke movie) Tape, which needs about 20 minutes to get its look-at-me-I'm-a-badass-indie-film-shot-on-DV-with-cool-angles attitude out of its system. But after that, whoa boy. The film takes place entirely in a low-rent motel room where Hawke is staying; his high school pal, played by the underappreciated Robert Sean Leonard (the guy who blew his brains out in DPS), drops by and before you know it, it's less high school reunion and more Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. You see, Hawke's Vince exposes a secret from Leonard's Jon's past and a cunning game of psychological hot potato begins. What impressed me the most about Tape is how it defied my expectations at every point that the movie turned - there are more twists in it than a Hollywood thriller, and the movie becomes so engrossing at points that interest becomes giddiness. But the best thing about Tape is how well its actors (including Uma Thurman, who drops by in a pivotal role) navigate the facial and verbal expressions that would accompany such an encounter. For a low-budget indie that could have been pretentious and silly, this movie is so well-nuanced and executed it'll have you clamoring for more in its all-too-brief 84 minutes. GRADE: B
Buy Tape at Amazon.com
Buy posters at Allposters.com
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