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THE LONELIEST PLANETMovie Reviews
Drama about a young couple whose relationship is threatened by a fleeting act as they backpack in the Caucasus Mountains of Georgia with a native guide. Cast:Hani Furstenberg, Gael García Bernal, Bidzina GujabidzeDirector:Julia LoktevRelease Date:October 26, 2012DVD Release:February 19, 2013From:IFCLength:1 hr 53 min
FEBRUARY 19, 2013
The Loneliest Planet, Very Good Reviews, Mixed Key Cities
The Loneliest Planet played in key cities to very good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Wesley Morris wrote in the Boston Globe, "...haunting.... The movie captures a kind of tragedy of self. Who, really, are you under the X-ray of pressure and can that person be overlooked or forgiven?" More Reviews Below...
The Loneliest Planet Positive Reviews (25 Reviews, reviews below)
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...original and emotionally profound... a collage of visual and aural sensation assembled by a 42-year-old filmmaker with a strong, mature artistic sensibility."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 232 words, 10/26/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...grows tiresome. We're given no particular reason at the outset of to care about these people, our interest doesn't grow along the way..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 466 words, 11/02/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (8 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...rigorously committed to a particular kind of minimalism... the film is aggressive in its subtlety. It is gripping and haunting, but also coy and elusive."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 585 words, 10/26/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "An utterly hypnotizing drama that has a lot on its mind... The film delivers in unexpected ways, and then ponders what it means."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 147 words, 10/26/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD "The question that hangs in the air is not only if, but how, the relationship will weather the storm.... this journey of two lovers is well worth taking."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 711 words, 10/26/12
Farran Smith Nehme, New York Post: MODERATE(cg) "Loktev has remarkable visual chops... Unfortunately, her dry approach to establishing the couple's relationship means its abrupt collapse causes little emotional impact."(See all of Farran Smith Nehme's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 222 words, 10/26/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...grows tiresome. We're given no particular reason at the outset of to care about these people, our interest doesn't grow along the way..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 466 words, 11/02/12
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: EXCELLENT "Julia Loktev's marvelous, slow-burning follow-up to her minimalist thriller 'Day Night Day Night' somehow manages to be both audacious and subtle..."(See all of Aaron Hillis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 73 words, 05/23/12
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Low on dialogue and as painterly as naturalistic, linear narrative cinema gets... literally a study in colors and also the gradient scale of a single relationship."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 175 words, 11/03/11
KEY CITIES (6 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a mesmerizing drama about a footloose couple... manages to plumb some shattering truths about men, women, intimacy and power."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 475 words, 11/02/12
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "...strikes me as uninspired long-take landscape shots masquerading as minimalism, and an undernourished story straining for profundity."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 146 words, 11/02/12
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...haunting.... The movie captures a kind of tragedy of self. Who, really, are you under the X-ray of pressure and can that person be overlooked or forgiven?"(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 711 words, 11/02/12
Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "Loktev employs a strategy common in minimalist films, that of constant withholding, both of information and emotion. That can backfire - I think it does here..."(See all of Walter Addiego's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 329 words, 11/02/12
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: VERY GOOD(cg) "The languid, observational style of director Julia Loktev will frustrate those expecting stuff to, like, happen more, but it has its real rewards."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 166 words, 11/16/12
Tom Long, Detroit News: VERY GOOD(cg) "...intense, purposely rambling and both lovely and awful.... the dynamic between Gael Garcia Bernal and Hani Furstenberg feels startlingly real throughout the film..."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 304 words, 11/09/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (7 Reviews)
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: EXCELLENT "Julia Loktev's marvelous, slow-burning follow-up to her minimalist thriller 'Day Night Day Night' somehow manages to be both audacious and subtle..."(See all of Aaron Hillis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 73 words, 05/23/12
Karina Longworth, LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Low on dialogue and as painterly as naturalistic, linear narrative cinema gets... literally a study in colors and also the gradient scale of a single relationship."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 175 words, 11/03/11
Scott Tobias, AV Club: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Loktev suffuses the film with the kind of intimate, microscopic detail and observation that's more common to literature than cinema."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 424 words, 10/25/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...explores the gap between what you can and can't know.... the film helps you to recognize your own limits, as well as the art of your understanding."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 840 words, 10/26/12
Alison Willmore, Movieline: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one of the finest of the year... made with an intoxicating and precise faith in the ability of images to convey feelings... giant in scope..."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 901 words, 10/24/12
Andrew Schenker, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...feels perpetually as if it's building up to some dreadful act of violence.... an otherwise compelling and often wonderfully subtle piece of work."(See all of Andrew Schenker's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 636 words, 09/24/11
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: EXCELLENT "...spectacularly scenic and tersely dramatic... The performances are vivid and precise... the loneliness of the movie's title refers not to landscapes but to souls."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 312 words, 10/26/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...rigorously committed to a particular kind of minimalism... the film is aggressive in its subtlety. It is gripping and haunting, but also coy and elusive."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 585 words, 10/26/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "The question that hangs in the air is not only if, but how, the relationship will weather the storm.... this journey of two lovers is well worth taking."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 711 words, 10/26/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Leslie Felperin, Daily Variety: VERY GOOD "...powerful... viewers may recognize a core emotional truth about how deeply travel tests relationships, how a single instinctive action can shift the ground irrevocably..."(See all of Leslie Felperin's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 506 words, 08/11/12
Neil Young, Hollywood Reporter: GOOD "...slow-burning, distinctive... Though flawed, the film is confidently handled and commendably audacious in its deployment of repetition and duration..."(See all of Neil Young's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 720 words, 08/11/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "The question that hangs in the air is not only if, but how, the relationship will weather the storm.... this journey of two lovers is well worth taking."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 711 words, 10/26/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...worth seeing on the big screen, for it displays the bold, audacious vision of a gifted director, who knows how to create and sustain tension throughout her narrative."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 421 words, 10/19/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...rigorously committed to a particular kind of minimalism... the film is aggressive in its subtlety. It is gripping and haunting, but also coy and elusive."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 585 words, 10/26/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: EXCELLENT "...spectacularly scenic and tersely dramatic... The performances are vivid and precise... the loneliness of the movie's title refers not to landscapes but to souls."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 312 words, 10/26/12
21.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
The Loneliest Planet's reviews are separated by an average 21.0 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 Loneliest Planet (25 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:The Loneliest Planet's reviews cover 34.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 10,754 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 430 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 16 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
The Loneliest Planet's reviews on average broke 16 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 The Loneliest Planet's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
The Loneliest Planet (25 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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