- Network: HBO
- Series Premiere Date: Jan 1, 2015
Critic Reviews
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What makes the disturbing story gripping, beyond Oyelowo’s spellbinding performance, is its humor, defining compassion and incisive imagery.
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Mr. Oyelowo gives a riveting, disorienting and suspenseful tour of an unraveling mind. The music and cinematography are artful, but the props are mundane.
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The narrow perspective creates the disconcerting intimacy on which Nightingale thrives, but Lester’s strict adherence to it often feels compensatory and makes the film come across more like a conceptual exercise than a story.
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Nightingale is really about David Oyelowo, a magnificent actor with astonishing range who draws viewers deep down into the darkness with his character. His skill in accomplishing this, of course, makes Nightingale something to be admired rather than loved, and, depending on your mood, maybe even something to be avoided.
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Oyelowo now gives us an inverse performance [from his performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in Selma], mesmerizing in its small, sad details and sense of anti-charisma. [29 May/5 Jun 2015, p.98]
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Nightingale is overshot to appear more cinematic and underwritten to avoid pomposity, and that's okay. Both decisions are just that: choices to serve the character. Peter would be pleased with how his little film turned out.
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Nightingale rages on at times with no real direction. At others, it hits us over the head with pretentious symbolism. Oyelowo's inspired performance keeps it afloat.
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Despite some visual tricks--like letting Peter step into the sunlight--Nightingale is partly handcuffed in its contortions to keep Oyelowo alone onscreen, and outside voices to the barest of minimum. Indeed, even at its relatively brief length, the movie feels padded, as if this would work better as a “Twilight Zone” episode. That said, Oyelowo delivers an electric performance.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 5 out of 10
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Mixed: 3 out of 10
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Negative: 2 out of 10
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Sep 18, 2015