Trust

Fine Line Features | Release Date: July 26, 1991

CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION

67	METASCORE Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

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Critic Reviews

Critic score Publication By date

100

Joan Anderman

Hartley's spare dialogue cuts right to the characters' psyches; his terse, laconic style accentuates the everyday horror. [20 Sept 1991]

Peter Travers

Within its small, darkly funny range, Trust is an exceptional film that stays alert to the mysteries of love. Read full review

Caryn James

Though Mr. Hartley's films are richly detailed, there are no frills or grace notes. Such work risks being too blunt, but Trust comes through. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Hartley has such a spare, controlled touch in this film that this landscape seems both realistic and fantastic. [16 Aug 1991]

J. Hoberman

Trust never seems dated and, as a youth film, it may even be usefully pedagogic. [30 July 1991]

TV Guide MagazineEthan Alter

Trust is stylishly photographed and crammed with quirky, offbeat incidents and dialogue. Read full review

H.J. Kirchoff

Hartley manages to spin grim-sounding material into an uplifting - and funny - story dealing with love, responsibility, the dynamics of family life and, yes, trust. [09 Aug 1991]

David Sterritt

Hal Hartley's new comedy-drama is more cleverly conceived and imaginatively realized than his earlier film, "The Unbelievable Truth," and develops impressive emotional power at times. [16 Aug 1991]

Ted Mahar

The faithful will appreciate [Hartley's] sharp, thoughtful dialogue, his sly humor and his utterly unpredictable plots. [06 Sep 1991]

William Arnold

The movie whips itself into being a surprisingly effective love story. [16 Aug 1991]

Stephen Hunter

It inverts the typical Hollywood boy-meets-girl formula into something somehow menacing and yet ultimately moving. [29 Oct 1991]

Staff (Not Credited)

Long Island filmaker Hal Hartley progresses from his debut feature, The Unbelievable Truth to this bleak, off-center comedy about dysfunctional families in working class suburbia. Read full review

Hal Hinson

He's made two features, "The Unbelievable Truth" and now Trust, and both are cool, strikingly original case studies of middle-class anomie. Read full review

Desson Howe

Trust is always interesting. And always interesting, as someone once said, is always good. Read full review

Marjorie Baumgarten

There's a serious teen angst movie somewhere in all this as well as an unflinching look at suburbia. Read full review

Staff (Not Credited)

Another fond sketch of losers from the down-scale version of Woody Allen. Read full review

Julie Salamon

It's a little precious and a little boring, but he has brought out an interesting performance from Adrienne Shelly, who convincingly pulls off a transformation from aimless pregnant teenager to purposeful young woman. [05 Sep 1991]

Roger Ebert

Hal Hartley is on his way to creating a distinctive film world, and although Trust is not a successful film, you can see his vision at work, and it's intriguing. Read full review

Owen Gleiberman

Trust, the cult-movie view turns precious and smug. Read full review

Mike Clark

Drollness on screen can sometimes be had cheaply, but a perfect cast is tougher to bankroll. Hal Hartley's new comedy has both - enough to defuse the smugness that seems to linger in its soul. [15 Aug 1991]

Dave Kehr

Trust seems ultimately a matter of touches-some cute, some surprising, some even fairly expressive, but none more than superficial. [16 Aug 1991]

Mick LaSalle

Trust never lives up to its snappy opening. Everything is tongue-in-cheek here - yet it's never remotely clear what the point is or what's getting satirized. [16 Aug 1991]