Group
Release Date: July 5, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
53
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
4
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
L.A. WeeklyElla 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
75
New York Daily NewsElizabeth 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
70
Village VoiceEd 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
63
New York PostJonathan Foreman
It too often looks and feels like a high-concept home movie, thanks to cinematography that's crude and ugly even by the standards of documentary video. But Group is also a remarkably believable piece of improvised theater. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeErin Meister
Is it one of Oprah's book club meetings? Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen 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
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid 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
40
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
40
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
The well-intended Group is nevertheless problematic. It's relentlessly grueling, as therapy can be, and not everyone will be able to see a reason to watch it. Read full review
20
The New York TimesA.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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