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THE EXPLODING GIRLMovie Reviews
Drama about an epileptic young woman who returns home to Brooklyn on summer break from college and grapples with a long-distance romance as well as her relationship to a long-time male friend. Cast:Zoe Kazan, Mark Rendall, Maryann UrbanoDirector:Bradley Rust GrayRelease Date:March 12, 2010DVD Release:September 7, 2010From:OscilloscopeLength:1 hr 19 min
The Exploding Girl played in key cities to very good reviews. • Tom Keogh wrote in the Seattle Times, "...restrained but moving... a Zen-like experience of watchful compassion in deliberately challenging circumstances..." • And Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote in Entertainment Weekly, "Zoe Kazan is utterly lovely... Nothing much happens on the outside in this soft, sweet sketch of a drama by Bradley Rust Gray." More Reviews Below...
The Exploding Girl Positive Reviews (17 Reviews, reviews below)
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: EXCELLENT(cg) "Zoe Kazan is utterly lovely... Nothing much happens on the outside in this soft, sweet sketch of a drama by Bradley Rust Gray."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 105 words, 03/26/10
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (7 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...sweet... driven less by plot than by a desire to explore, intimately and yet from a tactful distance, the quiet moods and quotidian interactions of its characters."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 03/12/10
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT(cg) "...quietly poetic little gem contains many beautiful things, not least of which is leading lady Zoe Kazan, who lets every scene billow and swirl around her effortlessly."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 144 words, 03/12/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...on one level the tiniest story imaginable... this careful character study, so exact in its aims and execution, holds our interest almost without our noticing how it's done."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 04/02/10
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Zoe Kazan impressively holds center stage as the title character, a college student with epilepsy and a confusing love life."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 164 words, 03/12/10
Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a tender film about young tentative love.... frames an act of holding hands as the climax of intimacy. Bradley Rust Gray savors a delicate, inarticulate love."(See all of Bill Stamets's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 325 words, 02/11/11
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...narratively slight, but aesthetically and psychologically complex.... Gray turns the frustrations of epilepsy into an effective metaphor for non-epileptic youthful paralysis..."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 414 words, 03/10/10
KEY CITIES (5 Reviews)
Dan Kois, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Viewers willing to slow down their cinematic metabolism enough to watch the film at its own pace will find their patience rewarded by moments of great beauty..."(See all of Dan Kois's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 441 words, 03/26/10
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "An incisive sketch... a character study of one young woman - and of an entire generation struggling to maintain external maturity despite internal regression."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 303 words, 04/16/10
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Zoe Kazan repays her director's endless gaze with a performance that hints at the possibilities deep inside... a film about the deceptiveness of surfaces..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 538 words, 05/07/10
Mike Russell, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a minimalist, occasionally quite lovely little vibe-piece... builds a slow, cumulative emotional suspense in which the payoff isn't much more than a couple of gestures."(See all of Mike Russell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 211 words, 05/21/10
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (4 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: VERY GOOD "...narratively slight, but aesthetically and psychologically complex.... Gray turns the frustrations of epilepsy into an effective metaphor for non-epileptic youthful paralysis..."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 414 words, 03/10/10
Zak Jason, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...fizzles in its aimlessness.... Grey contains all this diverting dithering in 80 minutes -- even without an explosion, there's intrigue in watching a short fuse burn."(See all of Zak Jason's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 149 words, 05/06/10
Noel Murray, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "...engaging but rough, lacking the kind of polish that would make it a hit.... There isn't much to the film, but it's blessedly compact, and owns its no-big-deal-ness."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 03/11/10
HIGHBROW PRESS (2 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...sweet... driven less by plot than by a desire to explore, intimately and yet from a tactful distance, the quiet moods and quotidian interactions of its characters."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 03/12/10
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...on one level the tiniest story imaginable... this careful character study, so exact in its aims and execution, holds our interest almost without our noticing how it's done."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 04/02/10
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Leslie Felperin, Daily Variety: FAIR "Almost nothing happens in the first half-hour, and then, suddenly, nothing much else happens.... so slight and featherweight one viewer sneezing could blow it all offscreen."(See all of Leslie Felperin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 266 words, 02/07/09
Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter: VERY GOOD "...built four-square round Zoe Kazan's persuasive performance.... via her skilled, nuanced, empathetic characterization, we're with this girl every step of the way."(See all of Neil Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 433 words, 02/07/09
Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "...on one level the tiniest story imaginable... this careful character study, so exact in its aims and execution, holds our interest almost without our noticing how it's done."(See all of Kenneth Turan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 04/02/10
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD "...sweet... driven less by plot than by a desire to explore, intimately and yet from a tactful distance, the quiet moods and quotidian interactions of its characters."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 03/12/10
10.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Exploding Girl's reviews are separated by an average 10.7 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.
The Exploding Girl (17 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Exploding Girl's reviews cover 21.9% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 5,852 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 344 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 11 Days After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Exploding Girl's reviews on average broke 11 days after 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 The Exploding Girl's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Exploding Girl (17 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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