Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
United Artists | Release Date: November 22, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 28 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
9
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
This isn't a movie -- it's an author in love with the sound of her own voice. Read full review
50
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
The writing is self-consciously literary in a way that probably worked better on the page. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderRichard M. Porton
Rebecca Miller's second feature shows her to be a careful but somewhat schematic scenarist; her shaky directorial skills are partly offset by her skill at eliciting convincing portrayals from actors. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The actors are gifted at establishing character with just a few well-chosen strokes (as a short story writer must also be able to do). We learn as much about each of these women in half an hour as we learn about most movie characters in two hours. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMark Caro
The movie's title refers to a comment about how people grow at their own rates. Miller's movie has its moments of impressive velocity, but it never quite takes off. Read full review
100
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Miller shows terrific talent as a director with a sharp eye for images, a keen ear for dialogue, and a refreshing willingness to take storytelling risks. Read full review
80
Dallas ObserverBill Gallo
Moviegoers bewailing the absence of literacy and shallowness of character they usually get for their seven bucks need look no further than this fluent and satisfying triptych for a source of hope. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A no-frills docu-Dogma plainness, yet Miller lingers on invisible, nearly psychic nuances, leaping into digressions of memory and desire. She boxes these women's souls right open for us. Read full review
70
Film ThreatMerle Bertrand
An intensely moving and oftentimes haunting film; a compelling look at the unique life paths of three totally different women. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Liberal use is made of freeze-frame and flashbacks as a kind of emotional chronology, yet it's precisely in this regard that the characters feel tentative and half-formed. I'm still trying to figure out why this perfectly serviceable movie won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance last year. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
Miller's strength in her stories and in the film is in her ability to push past ideology and get right down to the nitty-gritty of desire. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
The first two stories are so well-drawn you hate to leave them. But Miller's femaleempowerment anthology carries a smart whiff of other literary looks at ordinary, extraordinary women, such as Grace Paley's "Enormous Changes at the Last Minute." Read full review
75
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Succinct yet detailed storytelling, evocative cinematography (by Ellen Kuras) and arresting central performances add up to a trio of engaging character portraits. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
Has the confessional intimacy of a video diary and performances to match, particularly those of Kyra Sedgwick and Parker Posey. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianKim Morgan
It's not afraid to be funny, tragic and decidedly female.
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The acting is uniformly excellent, with Kyra Sedgwick and Fairuza Balk in particular deserving to be singled out for praise. Read full review
60
SalonJeff Stark
The thing I took away from that opening was that it was small, and looked beautiful. There was some technique and a little confusion. It didn't seem to have a conflict all plotted out and neatly resolved. The thing I didn't like is that the rest of the movie did. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
A hit-and-miss affair, or, to be more precise, a miss (story one), hit (story two) and break even (story three) affair. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula Nechak
The actors navigate tough characters through emotional mayhem with such intense determination it's a shame they're undercut by the intrusive voice-over. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Taken together, the stories are a watershed of feminist clichés, composed of half-hour sections that are too tidy by half, and overlaid with writerly voiceovers that suggest an author too enamored of her own narration. But one salvageable piece emerges in the middle: a sharp and acerbically funny segment that seems written specifically for Parker Posey. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
A drama that's often insightful and occasionally powerful but is still, at heart, a piece of television and not a work of film. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
The cumulative effect is that of watching misspent lives disintegrate before your eyes. Ms. Miller's canny accomplishment is a triumph, giving the material weight and heart. This is one of the finest pictures of the year. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
All three actresses are simply dazzling, particularly Balk, who's finally been given a part worthy of her considerable talents. Read full review
80
VarietyDennis Harvey
Impresses with the originality of its observation, storytelling techniques and filmmaking style. Read full review
60
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Miller's women share the affliction of scars left by dominating fathers. But the stories lean toward self-importance, and used verbatim in heavy voice-over, they register as a parody of spareness. Posey is the only one who has fun puncturing the solemnity, turning the real surreal in a softer version of her usual attack. Read full review
90
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Everything and everyone is observed sharply, succinctly and indelibly.
80
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The movie's much more than a castor-oil feminist message about self-realization, bad old Dad and all those awful men. The performances take care of that. Read full review
80
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Embraces reality, humanity and compassion, as leavened by wisdom and wit. Read full review
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