Party Monster
Strand Releasing | Release Date: September 5, 2003 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
12
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
For all its decadence, it moves effectively from outrageous camp humor to stark pathos and in the process manages to be oddly touching. As for Culkin, he succeeds as an adult actor in completely unexpected ways. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
As stagy and awkward as some of the Warhol/Morrissey films of the early '70s. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Culkin plays Alig as clueless to the end, living so firmly in his fantasy world that nothing can penetrate his chirpy persona. Whether this is accurate--whether indeed any of the facts in the film are accurate--is not for me to say, but it works. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Culkin's Alig has the face of a debauched cherub, but the former child star never quite captures the charisma everyone swears was an essential component in Alig's success. Green's St. James steals the picture out from under him (poetic justice of a sort), and the supporting cast is nothing short of amazing. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverDavid Ehrenstein
Emotionally distressing yet compulsively watchable, Read full review
60
Film ThreatD.W. Smith
Overall, I have to recommend the film for its alternate take on the whole "Leaving Las Vegas," "Basketball Diaries," "Less Than Zero" drug-induced tragedy genre. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
Taking on the sneeringly blase Alig may be a cagey career move for Culkin, but it's a disappointingly thin performance. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
His (Culkin's) performance is earnest and brave, but also mannered when it should be un-self-conscious, and awkward when grace is called for. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The plot is sordid and predictable -- indiscriminate nightclubbing leads to escalating drugs, promiscuity, and violence. Things perk up cinematically in the last few scenes, but by then it's almost too late. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Most moviegoers will have trouble looking past Culkin the actor, who does a decent job of sending up youthful fame in a movie that's barely worth the effort. Read full review
50
NewsweekDavid Ansen
There isn't an ounce of genuine affection on display. Fenton and Barbato already made a documentary of the same title about Alig, and their fascination with this vapid, charmless pied piper of decadence remains a mystery. Read full review
50
PremiereGlenn Kenny
Better than I expected but still not entirely convincing. As a cautionary tale for demimonde-sters, though, it has its useful points--never argue about money while you're in a K-hole, that sort of thing. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Alig's superficiality seems to have been his only talent. His banality is a problem that the film can't overcome. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
So what is the picture saying? With its uneven tone, flat direction (on bad-looking digital video) and varied performances, very little. Read full review
40
VarietyDennis Harvey
A colorful, lurid and ultimately so-what look at obnoxious personalities careening down their own road to ruin. Read full review
40
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Party never gets rolling. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
If this were witty, it might have qualified as a downtown version of "All About Eve"; if it were believable, I wouldn't have come away feeling that the actors (including Dylan McDermott and Chloe Sevigny) were wasted. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
In the end you don't believe what you're watching, and you don't care. This party is a drag. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
Devotes most of its energy to its costumes and makeup, which are fabulous. But that and a tabloid-worthy star just aren't enough to revisit this sordid tale as a kind of twisted comedy. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
The film's only real bright spot is Seth Green, who, as Culkin's sidekick, brings Party Monster a droll wit it otherwise lacks. It's such a dreary mess that when Culkin insists that life in prison isn't too different from being a club kid, it's all too easy to believe him. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
The psychologizing in Party Monster never goes deeper than what you might get out of Dr. Phil on a bad day. Read full review
25
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Macaulay Culkin still can't act, and it's no longer cute. His performance in Party Monster is so embarrassing one doesn't know where to look. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Feels fake, forced and indigestible. Read full review
25
Boston GlobeTy Burr
"Prison isn't all that different from a nightclub,'' comments Alig toward the end. Funny; this movie isn't all that different from prison. Read full review
20
L.A. WeeklyErnest Hardy
There's really only one reason to see Party Monster, and that's Seth Green's scene-stealing performance as former (and somewhat reluctant) New York club kid James St. James, the boy who would be queen. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
The distance between tawdry and tedious can be amazingly short. It is traveled with Concorde speed in the arch Party Monster. Read full review
20
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The wanton fabulistas of Party Monster are as boring and insignificant as the very "normals and drearies" they so contemptuously deride. Read full review
20
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
A colorful mess, all style and substances and little else. Read full review
10
SalonCharles Taylor
Unwatchable. Read full review
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