Proteus
Strand Releasing | Release Date: July 30, 2004 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
4
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Film ThreatJames Wegg
The story of lust, love and betrayal intriguingly bemoans racism and prejudice of bygone times while peppering the “history” with more modern references. Read full review
70
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
This unusually rich film tackles not only the social structuring of criminality and sexuality but race as well, and explores the ways science has been used to justify the ruthless pursuit of market interests and, eventually, apartheid itself. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Greyson does a terrifically empathetic job of putting viewers firmly in the moment, by making it irrelevant exactly when and where that moment takes place. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
John Greyson and Jack Lewis' experimental drama, about two prisoners who have a dangerous affair, is a challenging, flawed look at a little-known slice of history. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis Harvey
Proteus has enough erotic and exotic content to win back some of the arthouse viewers previously beguiled by Greyson's "Lilies." But pic lacks that gem's lush aesthetics and impassioned complexity, ending up a tad remote. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank Scheck
Ultimately, the sex scenes seem of far more interest to the filmmakers than the narrative or characterizations, which are rendered in frustratingly vague and often deliberately confusing fashion. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Proteus is involving and affecting even if it is not completely coherent or fully realized. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyChuck Wilson
Proteus carries an air of forced-wit experimentation that never quite gets its anachronisms in order -- this 18th-century tale features a Jeep, a radio, and female court reporters with typewriters and bouffant hairdos. Read full review
38
New York PostLou Lumenick
This Canadian-South African labor of love has its heart in the right place, even if the leads seem to have been cast more for their hunky looks than their stiff acting. Read full review
30
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Tricked up with an elaborate flashback structure, subtitled dialogue in three languages and as many gratuitous aesthetic touches as the traffic will bear, Proteus emerges as a heavy, pretentious and derivative film. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleJohn McMurtrie
Takes its name from the king protea, the national flower of South Africa. The stunning, artichoke-like shrub may be fragrant, but the movie's pretty much a stinker. Read full review
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