Quitting
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: September 13, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
The total effect is mesmerizing, an eye-opening tour of modern Beijing culture in a journey of rebellion, retreat into oblivion and return. Read full review
90
New Times (L.A.)David Ehrenstein
Beautifully made, deeply upsetting drama.
88
Chicago TribunePatrick Z. McGavin
Daring and beautifully made, Zhang Yang's Quitting plays like a Chinese "Rebel Without a Cause." Read full review
80
The New York TimesDana Stevens
With Quitting, he (Zhang) has removed sentimentality from the theme and presented it with unflinching honesty, a quality he shares with his fearless cast. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Daring and complex. At 112 minutes, it might be 15 minutes too long, but this is not enough to detract from its impact as a probing and universal contemporary drama. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Quitting begins to seem intriguing in concept. Now comes the best news: It's just as compelling in execution. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
If only "reality" TV was as realistic as Quitting. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
It's downbeat material and it tends to drag a bit, but Jia's performance is so unsparing and intense -- and the film so compassionate and chaste in its approach to a life lost and recovered -- that Quitting ultimately satisfies. Read full review
70
Film ThreatTim Merrill
Particularly wrenching in its depiction of the father-son relationship. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It is a brave experiment, based on life and using actors who play themselves, but it buys into the whole false notion that artists are somehow too brilliant to be sober. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The entire cast is extraordinarily good -- many of them are, after all, actors by trade -- but throughout, Zhang is keen to remind his audience that this is only a dramatization. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Because Quitting admits its basic falsehood up front, the film is never emotionally affecting, but Jia's participation in this confrontation of his past shows remarkable courage and honesty, especially when his behavior doesn't inspire much sympathy. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
If Quitting isn't worthy of affection exactly, it's worthy of respect. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Alternately grueling and soporific, Quitting is a movie about addiction that demands the viewer also give something up. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Whether Quitting will prove absorbing to American audiences is debatable: After all, it's not like we don't have enough rehab stories of our own, and Jia often comes across as a sullen, unreachable brat. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Unfortunately Jia --a rather limited actor, judging from the movies excerpted here -- has trouble either articulating or projecting the existential crisis that ultimately landed him in a mental institution, which leaves the emotional center of the film inert. Read full review
50
VarietyDerek Elley
What gives Quitting its freshness is its setting in a country that often denies it has such problems and the decision to anchor the film strongly within the Chinese family fabric. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
An intriguing idea undermined by a lackluster follow-through. Read full review
30
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Unfortunately, the experience of actually watching the movie is less compelling than the circumstances of its making. Read full review
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