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LIFE DURING WARTIMEMovie Reviews
Comedy drama and sequel to "Happiness," about three adult sisters and their relationships to men and to life in general. Cast:Shirley Henderson, Ciarán Hinds, Allison Janney, Charlotte Rampling, Ally Sheedy, Michael Kenneth WilliamsDirector:Todd SolondzRelease Date:July 23, 2010DVD Release:July 26, 2011From:IFCLength:1 hr 38 min
Life During Wartime played in key cities to very good reviews. • Susan G. Cole wrote in Toronto Now, "...no one knows how to combine irony and emotion like Solondz... Yes, you will squirm. You will also laugh your face off." • And Stephen Whitty wrote in the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, "It's all both unpleasant and intriguing, bitterly cynical and full of surprising dark humor. In other words, a typically atypical Todd Solondz movie." More Reviews Below...
Life During Wartime Positive Reviews (39 Reviews, reviews below)
Richard Corliss, Time: OUTSTANDING "Solondz is the best argument for why we need indie movies. His films will never be mainstream fare.... But I'd call them, and especially 'Life During Wartime,' unforgettable."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,527 words, 07/26/10
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...almost like a parody of a Solondz film.... the deadpan delivery of lacerating dialogue remains a reliable source of uncomfortable comedy."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 623 words, 07/22/10
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "...obsessive filmmaker Todd Solondz's creepy/beautiful, engrossing/repellent follow-up to his 1998 dystopian family epic 'Happiness.' "(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 146 words, 07/23/10
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: MODERATE(cg) "...relies on uncomfortable black humor and moments of sincere drama to involve viewers. But everything is encased in artifice and the movie becomes a chore..."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 938 words, 07/22/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...sad without energy, dead without life. As a sequel to 'Happiness,' it regards the same lives, then as tragedy, now as farce."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 724 words, 08/05/10
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "You will find a few glimmers of humanity in his latest exercise in acerbic observation. But Solondz continues to mistake judgment for honesty, and empathy for weakness."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 153 words, 07/23/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: EXCELLENT "What Solondz does so well is create unthinkable moments in a 'Leave It to Beaver' world, where unmentionables are aired in the most innocuous ways to startling effect."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 07/30/10
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Chronologically it is a sequel, but not a single principal actor from the original is here.... feels like a labor of love, which for fans of 'Happiness' may have to be enough."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 278 words, 08/06/10
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: VERY GOOD "...a squirmy mix of grotesquerie and humanism... This might be some kind of goddamned masterpiece, but I'm not sure I want to watch it again to say for sure."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 240 words, 07/12/10
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...sad without energy, dead without life. As a sequel to 'Happiness,' it regards the same lives, then as tragedy, now as farce."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 724 words, 08/05/10
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Solondz's sensibility has obvious affinities to such masters of cruelty as Neil LaBute or the Coen brothers -- but he is less smugly punitive and more obviously tormented."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,042 words, 07/21/10
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "Not exactly buoyant stuff, but the sheer, obstinate sure-handedness of Solondz's method is nothing short of distinctive.... his style is bedrock solid."(See all of Geoff Pevere's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 08/27/10
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...no one knows how to combine irony and emotion like Solondz - or humour and desperation, for that matter. Yes, you will squirm. You will also laugh your face off."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 302 words, 08/27/10
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "After watching as Solondz's protagonists grasp and grope their way, viewers are likely not to laugh or cry -- but shrug and, unlike Solondz himself, move on."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 501 words, 08/06/10
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "How to describe the deadpan, anxiety-fraught films of Solondz? So funny I forgot to laugh? So painful I forgot to cry? Both descriptions apply."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 08/13/10
Mick LaSalle, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "Solondz wants us to laugh at his characters as contemptible, then mourn for them as souls in pain -- or at least feel for them... This can't be done. I think he almost does it."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 432 words, 08/27/10
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Solondz forces us out of our comfort zones, into uncharted waters, and holds our heads under. Is he justified? Should we pardon him? Not this time."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 621 words, 08/20/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "Solondz has referred to it in interviews as a 'quasi-sequel,' but it's something harder to grasp: an annotation, an obbligato, a ghost harmony. The smoke after the inferno."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 08/06/10
Stephen Whitty, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's all both unpleasant and intriguing, bitterly cynical and full of surprising dark humor. In other words, a typically atypical Todd Solondz movie."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 492 words, 08/13/10
Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...follow-up to 1998's 'Happiness,' dials down the gross-out factor of the earlier movie. But it still maintains Solondz's knife-edge balance between psychodrama and satire..."(See all of Michael Upchurch's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 08/13/10
Stan Hall, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) " 'Happiness' didn't really need a follow-up; it said everything it needed to say and had quite the indelible, ahem, climax."(See all of Stan Hall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 234 words, 08/27/10
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The characters are too neurotic or narcissistic to connect... The daring director is still a fascinating craftsman, but now we don't feel welcome in his dollhouse."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 342 words, 08/27/10
Tom Long, Detroit News: MODERATE(cg) "Solondz has a great eye for dark humor, and 'Life During Wartime' is certainly effectively awful. But again, who wants effectively awful?"(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 274 words, 08/13/10
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: MODERATE(cg) "...feels like a movie made to fulfill a contractual obligation, says nothing new, nothing that 'Happiness' didn't already say, only better."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 442 words, 09/10/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Solondz's sensibility has obvious affinities to such masters of cruelty as Neil LaBute or the Coen brothers -- but he is less smugly punitive and more obviously tormented."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,042 words, 07/21/10
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: MODERATE(cg) "You can't get enough 'Happiness' -- or so Todd Solondz must have thought... relies on the same predictable black-comic twists to each entangled episode."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 133 words, 04/22/10
Keith Phipps, AV Club: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Solondz remains a master of awkward interactions and of creating conversations that veer off in uncomfortable directions... curiously distant at each moment..."(See all of Keith Phipps's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 451 words, 07/22/10
Nick Schager, Slant: WEAK(cg) "...a film that too often takes diversions into cheap, above-it-all humor, and then attempts to attain gravity through multiple third-act speeches..."(See all of Nick Schager's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 411 words, 09/30/09
Susan G. Cole, Toronto Now: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...no one knows how to combine irony and emotion like Solondz - or humour and desperation, for that matter. Yes, you will squirm. You will also laugh your face off."(See all of Susan G. Cole's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 302 words, 08/27/10
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: MODERATE(cg) "Squirmometer Reading: With 0 = wince-free and 10 = unwatchable uncomfortable, the film gets a six. You see the characters squirm without feeling very inclined to squirm yourself."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 644 words, 08/20/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (5 Reviews)
John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...derives its blackly comedic bite from being both tragic and immediate.... Ms. Rampling, Mr. Hinds and Ms. Sheedy are as good here as they've ever been."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 423 words, 07/30/10
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: EXCELLENT "Solondz's best to date... feels drenched in an unfamiliar sadness... sour and strong, touched with the warmth of the Sunshine State, and licked by the fires of Hell."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 519 words, 08/02/10
David Edelstein, NPR Fresh Air: VERY GOOD "...it's the feel-bad movie of the year.... But my own faith is rekindled by Todd Solondz, who has found a form for the chaotic, contradictory impulses that we live with..."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Listen to the full review...) 342 seconds, 07/30/10
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "What Solondz does so well is create unthinkable moments in a 'Leave It to Beaver' world, where unmentionables are aired in the most innocuous ways to startling effect."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 07/30/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Todd McCarthy, Daily Variety: OUTSTANDING "...reels off one riveting scene after another, stands as both a unique sort-of sequel and a film that requires no prior reference points; it's entirely satisfying either way..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,045 words, 09/03/09
Deborah Young, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...a heady mix of deadpan humor... shows Solondz as the true heir to Woody Allen, albeit on a far kinkier and politically/socially engaged level."(See all of Deborah Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 09/03/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "What Solondz does so well is create unthinkable moments in a 'Leave It to Beaver' world, where unmentionables are aired in the most innocuous ways to startling effect."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 688 words, 07/30/10
John Anderson, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...derives its blackly comedic bite from being both tragic and immediate.... Ms. Rampling, Mr. Hinds and Ms. Sheedy are as good here as they've ever been."(See all of John Anderson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 423 words, 07/30/10
18.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Life During Wartime's reviews are separated by an average 18.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Life During Wartime (39 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Life During Wartime's reviews cover 64.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 19,772 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 507 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Life During Wartime Coverage, Volume & Length (39 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 21.5 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Life During Wartime's reviews on average broke 21.5 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Life During Wartime's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Life During Wartime (39 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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