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SHAME (2011)Movie Reviews
Drama about a 30-something man, unable to manage his sex life, whose world spins out of control when his sister moves into his apartment. Cast:Michael Fassbender, Carey Mulligan, James Badge Dale, Nicole BeharieDirector:Steve McQueenRelease Date:December 2, 2011DVD Release:April 17, 2012From:Fox SearchlightLength:1 hr. 39 min.
Shame (2011) played in key cities to very good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Colin Covert wrote in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "...transfixing.... emotionally grueling, but the performances are riveting, the visuals are stunning and bruised humanity oozes from every scene." • And Peter Travers wrote in Rolling Stone, "...too blistering and brutal to cozy up to.... McQueen is a born provocateur." More Reviews Below...
Alynda Wheat, People: MODERATE(cg) "If 'Shame' is to be enjoyed, it's for the performances, with Fassbender and Mulligan even more vulnerable than their frequent nudity suggests."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 73 words, 12/01/11
Richard Corliss, Time: VERY GOOD "McQueen doesn't judge the character or probe beneath his hard surface... 'Shame' pulses with the grimy vibe of New York City in the late '70s and early '80s..."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 988 words, 09/05/11
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD(cg) "Fassbender's performance here is riveting, haunting.... Mulligan is also quite powerful here in a vast departure from the more reserved roles we've seen her in before..."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 598 words, 12/01/11
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "...the biggest surprise is how distanced, passionless, and merely skin-deep Steve McQueen's attention is -- how little he cares about the subject of his own movie."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 996 words, 12/02/11
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: VERY GOOD(cg) "...too blistering and brutal to cozy up to. But Fassbender and Mulligan are dynamite. And McQueen is a born provocateur. There's no easy way to shake off 'Shame.' "(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 287 words, 12/02/11
Claudia Puig, USA Today: VERY GOOD(cg) "...worth seeing primarily for Michael Fassbender's mesmerizing performance.... as a tale of sexual addiction, 'Shame' is more provocative than revelatory."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 481 words, 12/02/11
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) " 'Shame' contains unblinking truth.... This is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 875 words, 12/02/11
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Director Steve McQueen and his cast enact the emotional and physical strain of these people in an exacting and thoroughly frank and often graphic way."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 729 words, 11/29/11
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...the seriousness of its effort is hard to deny.... for all its displays of honesty (which is to say nudity), it is also curiously coy."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 971 words, 12/02/11
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "This is tricky territory... McQueen and cinematographer Sean Bobbitt create a memorably lonely Manhattan of dimly lit bars, stark offices and anonymous alleys."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 12/02/11
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...it is Mulligan and most especially Fassbender that give the film its power.... it's difficult to watch but even harder to turn away from."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 12/02/11
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a showcase for one of the most exciting actors working... Mulligan finally lives up to the attention she's been receiving since her Oscar-nominated bow in 'An Education.' "(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 640 words, 12/02/11
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...since McQueen has told us so little about Brandon's or his sister's past, we have no insight into how the siblings turned out the way they did. It's empty sex for us, too."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 458 words, 12/05/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) " 'Shame' contains unblinking truth.... This is a great act of filmmaking and acting. I don't believe I would be able to see it twice."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 875 words, 12/02/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "The tone is impressionistic, cool, and programmatically anti-erotic.... leaves us less gasping in physical horror than grasping at metaphysical straws."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 11/30/11
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an affecting picture that leaves the viewer as wrung out as the protagonist. No doubt you'll be seduced but, in the end, you may also feel abandoned."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 765 words, 12/02/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the forceful visual sensibility that worked so well in the abstract 'Hunger' isn't suited to the more human-scale story McQueen's telling here..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 170 words, 12/01/11
KEY CITIES (14 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...burrows into one's consciousness and stays there, a brooding reminder that most of us are, in some way or another, waging invisible psychic battles."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 597 words, 12/02/11
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...there is much nudity and much more graphic sex. It serves to make the audience as alienated and lost as its characters."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 503 words, 12/09/11
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a creepy but poignant descent... dwells on the sordid even as British artist-turned-filmmaker Steve McQueen's film gets at the obvious.... fascinating, off-putting..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 501 words, 12/02/11
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...transfixing.... emotionally grueling, but the performances are riveting, the visuals are stunning and bruised humanity oozes from every scene."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 531 words, 12/16/11
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "Fassbender is so good as a man completely lost to his baser impulses that it makes 'Shame' worth sitting through. Enjoying? That's a relative term."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 532 words, 12/16/11
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Stunningly graphic.... it's about as far from erotica as you could get.... It's not about the joy of sex. It's about the utter despair it can't conceal."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 575 words, 12/02/11
Amy Biancolli, San Francisco Chronicle: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a frank urban erotic drama about a depressive, controlling sex addict... Structurally, it's close to perfect..."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 411 words, 12/02/11
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...an odd mixture: two marvelous actors in a film that seems to back away from them just a bit. It's frustrating that we never find out their shared history..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 450 words, 12/09/11
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...wrenches a heroic performance out of its leading man.... its relentless monomania -- tangible in both its tenor and its narrative -- erodes its considerable power."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 521 words, 12/16/11
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a raw, unsparing look at the downside of humanity. Some critics have complained that it doesn't address the reasons for Brandon's behavior, but it doesn't have to."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 323 words, 01/20/12
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: MODERATE(cg) "...glum and unsatisfying... This is a character, a director and a movie out of control.... it smears the lines between daring and taunting, and art versus indulgence."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 452 words, 02/16/12
Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: OUTSTANDING(cg) "The beauty of McQueen's movie -- a ravishing piece of filmmaking, despite the grimness -- is that it never patronizes you, and it is not afraid of ridicule."(See all of Rene Rodriguez's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 738 words, 12/16/11
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (10 Reviews)
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: MODERATE "The tone is impressionistic, cool, and programmatically anti-erotic.... leaves us less gasping in physical horror than grasping at metaphysical straws."(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 11/30/11
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: VERY GOOD(cg) "Director Steve McQueen has only made two films, but in them he explores two extremes of human experience.... starkly beautiful, sometimes schematic..."(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 580 words, 12/08/11
Scott Tobias, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "...sketches its characters with a stark simplicity that borders on merely crude, yet it's told with tremendous clarity and power..."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 423 words, 12/01/11
Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: EXCELLENT(cg) "...beautifully made.... Fassbender -- here playing a character whose capacity for tenderness is in danger of being erased by his self-hatred -- shows us something new..."(See all of Stephanie Zacharek's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,200 words, 12/01/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...the forceful visual sensibility that worked so well in the abstract 'Hunger' isn't suited to the more human-scale story McQueen's telling here..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 170 words, 12/01/11
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING(cg) "What is shocking about 'Shame' is the male vulnerability, the male weakness, the abject male misery we see onscreen. Movies simply don't do this."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,071 words, 01/16/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (7 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "Much of the film is banal or pretentious, or both -- vacuous vignettes... Occasionally, though, those vignettes burst into life and burn with consuming fire."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 607 words, 12/02/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...the seriousness of its effort is hard to deny.... for all its displays of honesty (which is to say nudity), it is also curiously coy."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 971 words, 12/02/11
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: GOOD "Director Steve McQueen challenges himself to unleash the wildest material that he, wielding his camera, can then possess and tame. The result is pure and pitiless..."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,146 words, 11/28/11
Mark Jenkins, NPR: MODERATE "Like McQueen's previous film 'Hunger,' 'Shame' is a parable of martyrdom.... If a movie is going to make lust look this miserable, it should at least explain why."(See all of Mark Jenkins's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 596 words, 12/01/11
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...it is Mulligan and most especially Fassbender that give the film its power.... it's difficult to watch but even harder to turn away from."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 12/02/11
Dana Stevens, Slate: GOOD "Fassbender makes Brandon into a captivating enigma.... This great-looking film, shot in a palette of chilly blues and greens, suffers from a surfeit of stylish blankness."(See all of Dana Stevens's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 816 words, 12/01/11
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...a visual and sonic symphony... isn't an easy film to sit through, to describe or to figure out, but it's riveting, spectacular, passionate cinema."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 778 words, 09/12/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: OUTSTANDING "...a chastening vision of a man in thrall to a craving fed by the conveniences of 21st-century technology and an urban, independent lifestyle."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,001 words, 09/04/11
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: OUTSTANDING "Driven by a brilliant, ferocious performance by Michael Fassbender... a real walk on the wild side, a scorching look at a case of sexual addiction..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 896 words, 09/04/11
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...it is Mulligan and most especially Fassbender that give the film its power.... it's difficult to watch but even harder to turn away from."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 12/02/11
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...uncompromising, painfully intimate, and challenging.... digs so deep into the nature of human sexuality and its abhorrent, deviant sides..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 966 words, 09/12/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...the seriousness of its effort is hard to deny.... for all its displays of honesty (which is to say nudity), it is also curiously coy."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 971 words, 12/02/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: GOOD "Much of the film is banal or pretentious, or both -- vacuous vignettes... Occasionally, though, those vignettes burst into life and burn with consuming fire."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 607 words, 12/02/11
19.6 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Shame (2011)'s reviews are separated by an average 19.6 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.
Shame (2011) (51 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Shame (2011)'s reviews cover 99.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 32,783 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 643 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 11 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Shame (2011)'s reviews on average broke 11 days 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 Shame (2011)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Shame (2011) (51 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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