High Art
October Films | Release Date: June 12, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
73
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyBeth Pinsker
Who knew that Brat Packer Sheedy would shine as a heroin-addicted photographer who had too much fame too early? Read full review
90
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
What makes High Art remarkable is Cholodenko's refusal to put her characters or story through a filter, her unblinking willingness to dive right in. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
So perceptive and mature it makes similar films seem flippant. The performances are on just the right note, scene after scene, for what needs to be done. Read full review
80
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
To their credit, the actors immerse themselves deeply in the film's self-conscious aura. Ms. Sheedy reinvents herself as a tough, fascinating presence, while Ms. Mitchell's earnest bewilderment also serves the story well. Read full review
80
Dallas Observer Peter Rainer
With more angst than you can shake a stick at, High Art sets a new course for the indie American film. Instead of the usual Scorsese-esque buddy confab, we have something closer to the funky Fassbinder world of marginalized, pansexual depressives. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
As storytelling it isn'’t always as clean as it might be, but this 1998 first feature by writer-director Lisa Cholodenko is an interesting debut for its nuanced sense of character and its terrific sex scenes--scenes that actually serve character development for a change. Read full review
80
VarietyEmanuel Levy
Compassionate and deft as Cholodenko's helming is, pic's overall impact largely depends on its central triangle. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
A work that shellacs itself into your consciousness. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Sensitive acting and imaginative filmmaking help rescue the movie from potential excesses of its own. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Though High Art has more than a few awkward touches--all the male characters take up less than one dimension, for example--it's otherwise a nicely underplayed, memorable, beautifully filmed movie. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineSandra Contreras
First-time director Lisa Cholodenko, who has made a powerful and modish film with a subtle and knowing script, is more than ably assisted by a spectacular cast. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
I suppose High Art is as good a name as any for this pretentious melodrama, an often- diverting but ultimately pointless attempt to wed intellectual twaddle with a soap-opera-ish lesbian romance. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Has a subtle magnetism, and a real human pulse, especially as it concentrates on its two main characters. Read full review
60
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
Solid debut effort from Lisa Cholodenko. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleBob Graham
It is wonderful to see how Sheedy gives shape to this performance -- her eyes, a photographer's eyes, carefully sizing everything up. [18 June 1998, Daily Notebook, p.E1]
50
San Francisco ExaminerG. Allen Johnson
Cholodenko's strategy of having the actors, in every scene -- whether it involves Lucy, the boyfriend or the Frame editors -- perform with an intonational flatness approaching monotone pretentiously undermines the effectiveness of her subject matter. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJack Mathews
High Art is, unfortunately, full of itself and its artistic pretensions. Read full review
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