Group

Name: Group
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: July 5, 2002
Duration: 106 min
Rating: 53

2002

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Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Release Date: July 5, 2002

Summary: Nine women meet every Wednesday afternoon for 21 weeks of group therapy in this entirely original, ultra modern probe into the American psyche. (Artistic License Films)

Director: Anne de Marcken and Marilyn Freeman

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Runtime: 106 min

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Critic Reviews

Ella Taylor

Some psychobabble ("We're all trying to be who we are") is inevitable, but somehow or other the thing works, largely because the acting, though primarily reactive, invests the movie with enough immediacy and specificity to turn the most excruciating banality into an original thought. Read full review

Elizabeth Weitzman

The sort of independent-film project that could have been disastrous in less-skilled hands. But Freeman's direction is so deft and the performances so natural that her remarkable experiment ends up feeling more realistic than most documentaries. Read full review

Ed Park

Though the characters are in fact sustained improvisations, the roles feel inhabited rather than acted -- a quality acutely present in scenes of excruciating awkwardness. Read full review

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

De Marken and Freeman preserve the group dynamic by dividing the screen into six parts, each mini-frame capturing actions and reactions from a different camera angle, and while the film drags in spots, the performances are unusually powerful. Read full review

David Sterritt

The movie teeters on a slippery dividing line between realism and fiction. It gains power from the mercurial nature of its improvised acting and split-screen camera work, though. Read full review

New Times (L.A.) Jean Oppenheimer

The film was shot with six cameras simultaneously and the images are projected on six split screens, à la Mike Figgis' "Time Code." While the subject's appeal is limited and the film's 106-minute running time excessive, viewers who do respond to the pic will find it raw, real and cathartic. Read full review

A.O. Scott

It is all a contrivance; the cast and filmmakers were under the delusion that putting unhappy women in a room would lead to drama. Read full review

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MichaelS.

Aug 7, 2002

I only bother rating and commenting on movies here when I feel that they are getting a raw deal. And GROUP, while not perfect, is a smart, touching, and formally-inventive film which deserves better than the Metascore trouncing it's getting. Yes, it is a first film, and it sometimes I only bother rating and commenting on movies here when I feel that they are getting a raw deal. And GROUP, while not perfect, is a smart, touching, and formally-inventive film which deserves better than the Metascore trouncing it's getting. Yes, it is a first film, and it sometimes dips into touchy-feely territory a bit too much. But it is often hilarious, and its characters actually surprise with their insights and original perspectives. Also, I think whoever is assigning Metacritic scores for these reviews is asleep at the wheel. Read Ed Park and Ella Taylor for yourself, and see if the low numbers make any sense to you. (Hint: they won't.)[Ed: Upon further review, I agree. The scores have been adjusted accordingly.]… Expand

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