Dear Reader: Update, Movie Review Intelligence will
continue publishing this website through June (more...)
Search a Movie:
THE FUTURE (2011)Movie Reviews
Drama about a young couple who quit their jobs and give up the internet to prepare themselves for adopting a stray cat. Cast:Hamish Linklater, Miranda July, David Warshofsky, Isabella AcresDirector:Miranda JulyRelease Date:July 29, 2011DVD Release:November 29, 2011From:Roadside AttractionsRating:RLength:1 hr 31 min
NOVEMBER 29, 2011
The Future (2011), Very Good Reviews, Mixed Key Cities
The Future (2011) played in key cities to very good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Thelma Adams wrote in Us Weekly, "...deeply moving... captures the feeling of a relationship in free fall when no one is at fault, yet the mutual attraction has evaporated.... delicately told, refreshingly original..." • And John Anderson wrote in New York Newsday, "Profound, silly, but never profoundly silly." More Reviews Below...
The Future (2011) Positive Reviews (38 Reviews, reviews below)
Jake Coyle, Associated Press: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...whatever the precocious leanings, the film resonates primarily for its journey away from simple, irritating quirk, and toward originality of a more substantial kind."(See all of Jake Coyle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 625 words, 08/04/11
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...deeply moving... captures the feeling of a relationship in free fall when no one is at fault, yet the mutual attraction has evaporated.... delicately told, refreshingly original..."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 65 words, 07/21/11
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: MODERATE(cg) "Miranda July gives the impression not of a minimalist sensibility at work, but of an artist who actually hasn't fully fleshed out her ideas."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 697 words, 07/27/11
we have an app for when you're out and about
get our iPhone app... or get our mobile web app...
movie review intelligence
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (13 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...the magical, metaphorical strain in 'The Future' is what makes it powerful, unsettling and strange, as well as charming."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 957 words, 07/29/11
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "Miranda July's rejection of traditional storytelling is valuable, but the common complaints that her work is mannered or twee are accurate."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 162 words, 07/29/11
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD "The movie doesn't have much of a motor. But I like a lot of it, line to line, and I admire where we're left at the end. No clear answers, no facile resolution."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 08/05/11
David Edelstein, New York Magazine: GOOD "I hated watching it... But by the end I'd come around.... Miranda July is working as hard as any artist alive to find new forms to express the dread of formlessness."(See all of David Edelstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 807 words, 07/25/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "Is there such thing as a sincerely calculated naïveté? Or put another way, does Miranda July have any idea of how annoying she is?"(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 701 words, 07/27/11
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...well-acted... about a woman torn between two lovers, a tale that could almost be taken from a Douglas Sirk film if only the emotional temperature were a little hotter."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 609 words, 08/05/11
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...ends where the past began and the present continues, precisely on the edge with love teetering in the balance - a human constant in constant jeopardy."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 08/05/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...overstuffed... I'm fully aware that I'm not necessarily supposed to like these people, but I should at least be interested in them as the subjects of a drama."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 08/04/11
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "Miranda July makes good on the promise of 'Me and You and Everyone We Know,' proving that she's a bona fide filmmaker, of real ambition and scope."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 491 words, 08/05/11
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...odder and darker than July's first feature... But it is similar in the way it portrays people who are isolated from one another, spinning in their own orbits..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 548 words, 08/12/11
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: MODERATE(cg) "Miranda July takes 'twee' about as far as she can... transcends cute and crosses into precious... an unhappy blend of magical realism, alternative futures and 'Cats.' "(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 554 words, 08/29/11
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "What does it all mean? Your guess is as good as mine.... July's falling out of love story is a perplexing, haunting concoction of whimsy, sadness and beauty."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 441 words, 08/12/11
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: EXCELLENT(cg) "Some people will find the film a poetic triumph... Others will find it hopelessly pretentious... I found it to be more of the former than the latter."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 08/19/11
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: VERY GOOD(cg) "Halfway into this film, I wanted to smack the mopey bohemian couple played by July and Hamish Linklater; by the end, I realized the director was smacking them for me..."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 733 words, 08/05/11
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...original in its melancholic and disconnected aura.... the film's weaknesses are its irritating slowness, its preciousness and its rigorous commitment to style..."(See all of Mick LaSalle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 322 words, 08/19/11
John Hartl, Seattle Times: MODERATE(cg) "Miranda July rarely draws indifferent reactions. Her unique mixture of naiveté and quirkiness annoys some people and turns others into fierce followers."(See all of John Hartl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 310 words, 08/26/11
Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "July presents viewers with a stark choice as to whether to go along with her sense of whimsy or not.... I'm guessing that most of them won't."(See all of Shawn Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 297 words, 08/12/11
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "July is a provocative and honorably independent filmmaker, but given the meager rewards of investing our time, 'The Future' wasn't worth the wait."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 377 words, 08/19/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "Is there such thing as a sincerely calculated naïveté? Or put another way, does Miranda July have any idea of how annoying she is?"(See all of J. Hoberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 701 words, 07/27/11
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...sneaks up on you with its weight, landing a series of devastating punches near the end that also don't belie the film's witty assessment of human faults."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 01/31/11
Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...downright mystical, culminating in a more existentially disturbing variation on the time stoppage stunt in 'The Adjustment Bureau' -- by way of 'Goodnight, Moon.' "(See all of Peter Keough's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 527 words, 08/04/11
Noel Murray, AV Club: OUTSTANDING(cg) "July is focused throughout, mediating on movement -- the seduction and fear of it -- while encouraging the audience to care about a pair of do-nothings..."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 436 words, 07/28/11
Andrew Schenker, Slant: WEAK(cg) "A combination of morbid self-absorption and playful quirk... its characters' existential despair seems to express itself not in any recognizable modes of human behavior..."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 846 words, 07/24/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "...overstuffed... I'm fully aware that I'm not necessarily supposed to like these people, but I should at least be interested in them as the subjects of a drama."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 08/04/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...the magical, metaphorical strain in 'The Future' is what makes it powerful, unsettling and strange, as well as charming."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 957 words, 07/29/11
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: VERY GOOD "...slides a serious tale of disconnection and distress under the cover of whimsy.... Even as you smile at the movie, you meet with something chilly and afraid..."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 829 words, 08/01/11
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "The movie doesn't have much of a motor. But I like a lot of it, line to line, and I admire where we're left at the end. No clear answers, no facile resolution."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 08/05/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (5 Reviews)
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: VERY GOOD "July is fearless in her execution, earning hearty laughs throughout as she unveils inventive new ways of tackling the absurdities of life."(See all of Peter Debruge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 725 words, 01/22/11
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: WEAK "...an overly precious poetic examination of a couple's eccentric attempts to evolve their lives.... just too terribly twee to readily embrace."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 644 words, 01/22/11
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "The movie doesn't have much of a motor. But I like a lot of it, line to line, and I admire where we're left at the end. No clear answers, no facile resolution."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 346 words, 08/05/11
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...often so breathless and quietly wonderful that one hopes the separation between writer/director Miranda July's second and third feature are not nearly so long."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 756 words, 06/25/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...the magical, metaphorical strain in 'The Future' is what makes it powerful, unsettling and strange, as well as charming."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 957 words, 07/29/11
22.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Future (2011)'s reviews are separated by an average 22.0 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.
The Future (2011) (38 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Future (2011)'s reviews cover 54.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 19,878 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 523 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 49.9 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Future (2011)'s reviews on average broke 49.9 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 The Future (2011)'s opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Future (2011) (38 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
Mobile Web App version 1.2 shows a list of all current movies and review information. You can click through to the cast, director, synopsis, release date and rating on page two, plus individual reviews on page three. The information is updated on a live/real-time basis. You can also search our database of films. Designed for when you're on the move and want the latest info, this app will work on any mobile web browser. From your mobile device -- only from a mobile device -- open our Mobile Web App here...
