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Mentor Texts

Expressing Critical Opinions: Two Movie Reviews

Learning the basics, with help from a Times review of “Black Panther” and a student review of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

Anatomy of a Scene | ‘Black Panther’

Ryan coogler narrates a sequence from his film featuring chadwick boseman as t'challa, a.k.a. black panther..

I’m Ryan Coogler, co-writer and director of “Black Panther”. This scene is an extension of an action set piece that happens inside of a casino in Busan, South Korea. Now, T’Challa is in pursuit of Ulysses Klaue, who’s escaped the casino. He’s eliciting the help of his younger sister, Shuri, here, who’s back home in Wakanda. And she’s remote driving this Lexus sports car. And she’s driving from Wakanda. She’s actually in Wakanda. T’Challa’s in his panther suit on top of the car in pursuit. These are two of T’Challa’s comrades here. It’s Nakia who’s a spy, driving, and Okoye who’s a leader of the Dora Milaje in the passenger’s seat in pursuit of Klaue. The whole idea for this scene is we wanted to have our car chase that was unlike any car chase that we had seen before in combining the technology of Wakanda and juxtaposing that with the tradition of this African warrior culture. And in our film we kind of broke down characters between traditionalists and innovators. We always thought it would be fun to contrast these pairings of an innovator with a traditionalist. T’Challa, we kind of see in this film, is a traditionalist when you first meet him. His younger sister, Shuri, who runs Wakanda’s tech, is an innovator. So we paired them together. In the other car we have Nakia and Okoye, who’s also a traditionalist-innovator pairing. Nakia is a spy who we learn is kind of unconventional. And Okoye, who’s a staunch traditionalist, probably one of our most traditional characters in the film, you know, she doesn’t really like being in clothes that aren’t Wakandan. And this scene is kind of about her really bringing the Wakandan out. One of the images that almost haunted me was this image of this African woman with this red dress just blowing behind her, you know, spear out. And so a big thing was, like, you know, for me was getting the mount right so that the dress would flow the right way. It wouldn’t be impeded by the bracing system she was sitting on. So that took a lot of time. We had to play with the fabric and the amount of the dress to get it right.

By Katherine Schulten

Our new Mentor Text series spotlights writing from The Times that students can learn from and emulate.

This entry, like several others we are publishing, aims to help support students participating in our Fifth Annual Student Review Contest . Each spotlights both a Times review and a review written by a teenage winner of one of our previous review contests.

For even more on teaching with reviews, please see the unit overview .

If you are participating in our contest , writing a formal review of a movie, book, restaurant, album or work of art might be new for you. But don’t be intimidated. In your everyday life, you probably already practice the skills you’ll need.

When you talk about a TV show with your friends, write a literary essay for your English class, rate a video game online, or try to persuade your parents to choose your favorite restaurant for dinner, you’re doing the key things critics do: describing your point of view on a creative or cultural experience, and justifying it.

And, as you’ll see in the mentor texts below, you can have fun even when you make it formal. Not only are you “allowed” to write in the first person (“I”) and give your honest reactions, but doing so is actually central to the task. Even if you’re just writing a short review of, say, the place you go to get your car’s oil changed, a strong point of view helps.

If you don’t believe us, check out these tips for reviewers from Yelp , including:

The best reviews are passionate and personal. They offer a rich narrative, a wealth of detail, and a helpful tip or two for other consumers. Think about your recent experience at a business — could you put details in there that would help future consumers like you?

To write a great review, however, you’ll have to go even further. You’ll have to do what Jon Pareles , a Times critic who reviews popular music, describes as combining “the details of the individual experience — the close-up — with a much broader picture of what the experience means.”

Back when we ran our very first Review Contest, in 2015, he explained it like this:

Reviews are where an experience meets ideas. You go to a concert, a movie, an art exhibition, a restaurant, and it makes you think. Maybe the experience is a catalyst for a brand-new idea; maybe it crystallizes something you’ve been thinking about for a while. It becomes something worth writing about. The job of the reviewer is to get both the experience and the ideas into words — and into proportion. In some ways, a review is the same as reporting: The facts have to be correct and presented in a coherent way. And in some ways, a review is very different from reporting: Your subjective experience and your reactions — intellectual, emotional, visceral — are a big part of it. The best criticism merges the details of the individual experience — the close-up — with a much broader picture of what the experience means. It’s not just about that concert or art exhibit. It’s about how to listen or how to look. It’s about changing the perception your readers will bring to the next experience because your ideas awakened theirs. Yes, that’s a tall order. You need to select your details. You need to make sure your ideas are clearly expressed. You need the writing itself to be engaging, to be worth that reader’s attention. It can be serious, a little poetic, even funny — whatever communicates the ideas.

The Times reviews 14 categories of creative expression — books, music, movies, theater, television, comedy, fashion, architecture, dance, the visual arts, video games, restaurants, hotels and technology — and you can choose a work from any of those broad categories to be the subject of your own critique. In this edition of our Mentor Text series we focus on movie reviews, but the skills you’ll observe and apply here are the same ones you’ll use to write about any genre.

Happy reviewing!

Before You Read

Think of a movie you have watched recently and about which you have a strong opinion. Your pick can be a new release or an old favorite, and it can be a film you loved or one you loathed — just make sure it’s one you remember fairly well.

First, take a minute to jot down a few notes about this film. What was your opinion of it? Why? What details do you remember best?

Now turn to a partner, and set a timer. You have two minutes to do the following, in any order:

Tell your partner about this movie. Assume he or she knows nothing about it, and provide enough detail so your listener gets a broad idea of what happens, the characters and the setting, but not so much that you reveal, or “spoil,” key plot points.

Express your opinion of the movie. Should your partner see it? Why or why not?

Support your opinion : What details about the movie make it one you would recommend — or not?

When you are finished, switch roles.

Then, debrief. How easy or hard was this task? What aspects were trickiest? Between you, how many different aspects of filmmaking did you mention? For instance, did either of you talk about the acting? The music? The costumes? The camera work? Over all, how convincing were you? Ask your partner: “What did I say that best sold my point of view?”

You just did the three basic things that all reviews — whether of movies or music, books or buildings, food or fashion — need to do.

Now take a close look at two mentor texts, one by a Times reviewer and another by a teenage winner of our 2016 Review Contest, to consider how you might do this in writing.

Times Mentor Text: “ ‘Black Panther’ Shakes Up the Marvel Universe ” by Manohla Dargis

Did you see “Black Panther”? If so, what did you think of it? Watch the film’s trailer, above, to immerse yourself in the world of Wakanda before you read the review.

Then, study the review carefully, looking for how the Times critic Manohla Dargis does the same three things you just did — tells us about the movie broadly, gives us her opinions and supports those opinions with details.

If you are doing this in a classroom setting, you might practice as a group first by studying just the first paragraph:

A jolt of a movie, “Black Panther” creates wonder with great flair and feeling partly through something Hollywood rarely dreams of anymore: myth. Most big studio fantasies take you out for a joy ride only to hit the same exhausted story and franchise-expanding beats. Not this one. Its axis point is the fantastical nation of Wakanda, an African Eden where verdant-green landscapes meet blue-sky science fiction. There, spaceships with undercarriages resembling tribal masks soar over majestic waterfalls, touching down in a story that has far more going for it than branding.

What is her opinion of the movie? How do you know? What words or phrases reveal that?

What do you learn about the film just from this paragraph alone?

Based on the trailer you just watched if you have not seen the whole film, does this opening paragraph seem to you to capture the general look and feel of the movie? What words do that especially well?

Now, read the whole review, perhaps twice. The first time through you might pay particular attention to the structure, noting what role each paragraph plays. The second time, you might note the reviewer’s various observations and opinions — or “claims” — about the movie, and how she supports each. Then answer these questions:

How does this reviewer give us enough explanation of the movie’s plot, characters, setting and conflict so we have context for understanding her opinions? What lines or paragraphs do that especially well?

How does she quickly summarize “Black Panther” history to explain how this movie fits in? Why is that necessary?

What various claims does she make about the film? List a few. (For example, “Part of the movie’s pleasure and its ethos — which wends through its visuals — is how it dispenses with familiar either/or divides …”)

What evidence or details does she supply to support those claims? What aspects of filmmaking does she take into account?

What do you notice about how the writer structured her review and organized her ideas? Was the structure clear? Did it make the piece easy to read? Were there places where you were confused?

Return to the Times critic Jon Pareles’s framing of the critic’s job, which we quoted above. (“The best criticism merges the details of the individual experience — the close-up — with a much broader picture of what the experience means. It’s not just about that concert or art exhibit. It’s about how to listen or how to look. It’s about changing the perception your readers will bring to the next experience because your ideas awakened theirs.”) Does this review do that? How? What lines accomplish that especially well for you?

What else do you notice or admire about this review? What lessons might it have for your writing?

Now Take a Look at Some Student Annotations:

A 10th grade English class at Central Bucks High School South , in Bucks County, Pa. has kindly read and annotated the “Black Panther” review to show you what they noticed. Like any good mentor text, this one offers aspiring writers endless things to admire, and, as you’ll see in the student examples below, while one reader might be especially aware of clever transition sentences, another might focus on deft uses of punctuation.

Their teacher, Ondrea L. Reisinger, often uses The Times as a classroom resource, and her students had previously examined four other professional reviews. Ms. Reisinger invites them to observe many different elements, including what she calls those “mic drop lines” that a reader just can’t ignore.

Here she asked her students to make a color-coded key, choosing one hue to note organization and structure, another to pick out syntax and style, and a third to highlight support and evidence.

Take a look at what two students, Maeve McLaughlin and Shannon Poole , noticed and noted. What would your annotations look like?

Student Mentor Text: “ ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’: Tackling Bigger Monsters ” by Abigail Brunn

Now you’ll read a winning student movie review, this one chosen because it, too, deals with an imaginary world. Watch the trailer above, then read Abigail Braun’s full piece, reproduced below. (We allow students only 450 words.)

In a magical world of shapeshifting snakes and pilfering platypi, could humanity pose the greatest threat? For indisputable philanthropist and quintessential Hufflepuff, Newt Scamander, the theory seems all too plausible. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” transports devoted fans and muggles alike into a new realm of witchcraft and wizardry. A story of preserving wildlife, challenging governmental influence, and embracing individuality, the fantastic film seems to have an unexpectedly realistic edge. Set in 1920s New York City, “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them” creates a magic of its own. Bustling streets, towering skyscrapers, and mustard-topped hot dogs immerse viewers into the uncharted universe of early 20th century America. J.K. Rowling, the reason for Harry Potter’s existence and sole screenwriter for the film, adds her own twist — the unlikely protagonist himself, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). Scamander, joined by comical no-maj, or non-magical person, Kowalski (Dan Fogler), and ambitious witch, Tina (Katherine Waterston), travels throughout the city, from Macy’s Department Store to goblin-owned speakeasies. But there’s a catch: Scamander, avid lover of all fantastic beasts, has brought some creatures along in his suitcase. They, too, have decided to explore the city — on their own. Scamander’s subsequent journey is not only one of recovering creatures; it is one of discovering himself. Like a selfless and loyal Hufflepuff, Scamander fights to defend his beasts from “millions of the most vicious creatures on the planet — humans.” He defies orders from an oppressive government — Rowling’s version of Potter’s Ministry of Magic, the Magical Congress of the United States of America — to protest the state of creature rights. He mentors a young wizard, freeing him from suppression and the puritanical grasp of an anti-wizardry organization, the Second Salem Preservation Society. He exposes the man whose bleached blonde mohawk and infamous name appear on every magical newspaper throughout the wizarding world. The beauty of the film is not found in Rowling’s shy protagonist or his boy-next-door British charm. Nor is it found in the brilliant cinematography behind window-shopping monkeys and Arizona-bound dragons. It is found in Scamander’s attempts to save his creatures and friends from the world’s most terrible beasts — humans. With the help of an otherworldly cast and captivating story line, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” transforms a fantastic tale into a modern social statement. No magic needed.

Now, apply the same questions to this review as you did to the one for “Black Panther” — but please keep in mind that this student had nearly 1,000 fewer words to work with!

What is her opinion of the movie? How do you know? What words tell you that?

How does she give us enough explanation of the movie’s plot, characters, setting and conflict so we have context for understanding her opinions?

What various “claims” does Ms. Brunn make about the film? List a few.

What evidence does she supply to support those claims?

What do you notice about how the writer structured the review and organized her ideas? Was the structure clear? Did it make the piece easy to read? Were there places where you were confused?

Does this review “merge the details of the individual experience — the close-up — with a much broader picture of what the experience means”? How so? What lines do that especially well?

Now Try This: Post a Short Review to Our Related Writing Prompt

Flex your reviewing muscles by submitting a comment to this prompt:

What Work of Art or Culture Would You Recommend That Everyone Experience?

Focus on writing about works you love. To give you some models, our prompt includes excerpts from three Times reviews — raves from critics about the musical “Hamilton”; Beyoncé’s 2018 performance at Coachella; and the Y.A. novel “Eleanor and Park.”

Keep in mind that our comment tool allows you only 1,500 characters (250 to 300 words), so you’ll have to keep it succinct. But try, nonetheless, to do the three tasks you practiced in the “Before Reading” section: Tell us enough about the work so we have context, give us your opinion, and support it with some detail.

When you’re finished, go back and read some reviews by other students and consider commenting on them or “recommending” your favorites.

More Review Mentor Texts

Below are some suggestions for helping students understand reviews, and the role of cultural criticism at The Times, in general. But we also hope students will find their own mentors by searching The Times or other media sources for reviews of the art and culture that matters most to them.

1. Compare: A Times and student review of the same work: Cirque du Soleil’s “Kurios”

Times Review: “In Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Kurios,’ a Frisson of Novelty ,” a 2016 theater review by Christopher Isherwood

“Kurios” is fundamentally the kind of nouveau-circus show that the company has virtually patented, although it does, in theory, have a spine of a narrative, at least according to the press materials. Subtitled “Cabinet of Curiosities,” the spectacle is presided over by a character called the Seeker, a mad scientist type with a spike of gray hair atop his head — a proto-man-bun perhaps? — who scampers around the circular wooden stage as “the outlandish, benevolent characters” in his cabinet “turn his world upside down with a touch of poetry and humor in an attempt to engage the Seeker’s imagination.” Hmm. O.K. Whatever.

Student Review: “ Cirque du Soleil: Oh, So Kurios ,” an essay by Vicky Lee which was a winner of our 2017 Student Review Contest

I have been properly bewitched since this October. That is to say, absolutely and hopelessly bewitched: ever since the infamous Cirque du Soleil hurricaned into my life. One moment I was bitterly cursing into my mittens, in line behind another hundred grumpy individuals huddling away from the biting West Coast wind. And the next, I was stepping into a steampunk fairy-tale world all underneath a soaring depthless black. The hextech lights, the swinging music, the fantastical costumes all featured in Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities; they brought me back to my sci-fi fantasy-loving, 10-year-old self once again, even before the performance began.

2. Use short reviews: The Playlist

Every Friday, pop critics for The New York Times weigh in on the week’s most notable new songs and videos. We have used a piece from it for this edition of Mentor Texts .

For example, here is the Nov. 1, 2019 edition: The Playlist: Dua Lipa’s Disco Blast, and 13 More New Songs .

Here is the entire review of “Nobody,” by Ariana Grande featuring Chaka Khan:

Soundtrack songs for the “Charlie’s Angels” movie franchise have emphatically declared that strong, independent women are sexy, and this latest iteration is joyfully on brand. Produced by Max Martin’s pop factory, “Nobody” is smart enough to grab a 1960s soul beat and to pair Ariana Grande with the churchy grit of Chaka Khan — “Got a job, got a crib, got a mind of my own,” she announces. There’s deep calculation all the way through, but there’s also soul music’s intrinsic joy.

3. Take a broader look at culture: Critic’s Notebook

A decades-old column that can be found across the Arts pages, Critic’s Notebook gives Times reviewers a chance to step back and take a broader, more contextualized look at a work and its cultural meaning and impact.

For example, here is a paragraph from “ ‘Friends’ Is Turning 25. Here’s Why We Can’t Stop Watching it. ,” a 2019 consideration of the popular TV show, by Wesley Morris.

Familiarity is the magnet of every decent American sitcom. The “com” can’t compete alone and neither can the “sit,” even though, together, they’re obviously quite the sandwich. But the many nights I’ve spent recumbent on my sofa laughing at, say, Ross and Phoebe debating evolution, or Phoebe, Joey and Ross impersonating Chandler, or Chandler blanching at Monica’s desperate new cornrows or Rachel taking forever to tell somebody who the father of her baby is — those nights have never really been about the situation comedy of “Friends.” They’ve only ever been about us — me and these six people — and my apparently enduring need to know what they’re up to and how they are, even though I’ve known for 25 years.

And here is one from music critic Jon Caramanica headlined, “ Want to Build a Rap Career in 2019? Learn to Love the Meme. ”

In Teejayx6’s relatively rapid rise to internet notoriety over the past few months, he’s made scamming central to his music; his best songs are like “10 Crack Commandments” for online financial crime. But it also manifests in his image: He courts the meme economy assiduously, playing a character in an ongoing social-media drama that’s just as important as his music, probably more so. The same is true of many of this year’s most important breakout rappers — DaBaby, Blueface, Megan Thee Stallion, NLE Choppa and others — who understand that in an era in which social media and streaming are interwoven amplifiers, playing a character is as important as making great music. Being loved (and sometimes laughed at) on social media — see 6ix9ine, Lil Pump and other anime characters of the SoundCloud era — is just as important as any song. Creating micro-moments that fans can organize around may be the most robust currency of all.

Music & Drama » Film, Cinema & TV

The best books on film criticism, recommended by andrew sarris.

The legendary American critic, Andrew Sarris , sounds off on auteurism, his own career and the value of the traditional film-writing canon over internet innovations such as IMDB. He picks the best books on film criticism.

Interview by Eve Gerber

Agee on Film by James Agee

The Immediate Experience by Robert Warshow, Stanley Cavell and Lionel Trilling

What is Cinema? Volume 1 by André Bazin

Negative Space by Manny Farber

The New Biographical Dictionary of Film by David Thomson

1 Agee on Film by James Agee

2 the immediate experience by robert warshow, stanley cavell and lionel trilling, 3 what is cinema volume 1 by andré bazin, 4 negative space by manny farber, 5 the new biographical dictionary of film by david thomson.

Before we talk about film criticism’s golden era, let me ask a question about its future: Do you think the paring of print payrolls, the proliferation of viewer reviews, and the emergence of Internet aggregators, like Metacritic, will spell an end to serious criticism? And if serious criticism no longer pays, what will fuel the arguments among cinephiles that used to occur under theatre marquees (at least in Woody Allen movies)?

I disagree with those who say film criticism is in crisis. There might be fewer people looking for a fight; it might be less polemical than it was when subscribing to a certain film theory could make you a marked man among your fellow critics. But I think as long as filmmakers keep making great work – like The King’s Speech – the work will resonate and we will continue to wrestle with it.

As a professor of film, I find that my students appreciate their predecessors and have greater access to good writing on film than people of previous generations.

Let’s move on to that writing, starting with James Agee. He is best remembered for his sober social reporting and his posthumously-published Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family . Agee on Film assembles essays he wrote about film during the 1940s.

I read Agee in high school. He was deeply humanistic. He was an inspiring force for me as well as for many other critics. He was a message critic, very much concerned with what film said, and very sociologically oriented.

“Before the auteurists, Hitchcock was considered trivial. Now the notion that Hitchcock’s body of work was important is not so controversial.”

As someone who experienced so much success writing about topics other than film, he brought a great deal of style and a great deal of prestige to film criticism. I’ll give you an anecdote: When I was at Columbia, I applied for a creative writing course. During a personal interview with Professor F W Dupee, a legendary literary critic, I was asked what I wanted to write, and I said film criticism. He said: ‘Oh no, you don’t want to do that. We’ve already lost Jim Agee to movies. He was a good writer until Hollywood got to him.’ That was the attitude that people had. But Agee blazed a path that other great writers would follow.

Let’s move on to The Immediate Experience, a collection of criticism by Robert Warshow, who died in 1955. His analyses of the archetypes of mid-century cinema, including cowboys and gangsters, were so canonical that this collection was published in 1962 and then republished in 2002.

He died at a very young age – he was 37 – but he had a tremendous influence on many contemporary critics. You read him to get a different slant on film and criticism. He took movies as they were, and didn’t ask them to bear the weight of social messages.

Warshow focused on the ‘immediate experience’ of the viewer – how a movie moved a man. He, in fact, preferred the term ‘movie’ to the more highfalutin ‘film’. He suggested that we should judge films based on the emotional effect they have on us.

He concentrated on films that were not fashionable and directors that were not fashionable. He was a great champion of the B-picture and the action picture, movies that were dismissed by mainstream critics. He didn’t look down on films because of their genre. He had a tremendous effect on people in academe. He made people rethink films and rethink what made a great film. When you read him today, what he wrote still jumps off the page.

The next collection you chose, if we go in chronological order, has a very different point of view. This is What is Cinema by André Bazin, France’s most esteemed film critic .

Bazin was the antithesis of Russian film theorist and director Sergei Eisenstein, who posited that film didn’t become film until it was sliced up and served montage-style. Eisenstein advocated for the collision of images and conflict of classes in films. Bazin believed that films should be smooth, and needn’t be so socially weighty; he felt that films should have a realism to them. He focused on mise-en-scène, as opposed to montage.

Bazin was one of the founders of the Cahiers du Cinema, which popularised the auteur theory of film.

You are credited – and were at times blamed – for importing Bazin’s theory of auteurism to the States. Can you explain the theory and how it influenced the course of film criticism?

Auterism acknowledged that the director was the dominant personality in films and that films reflected a director’s vision. That was how it changed the trajectory of criticism. It was accused of ignoring every other contributor and technician involved in film – unfairly so.

Auteurism helped us understand that a director’s work should be judged on its artistry rather than its subject matter. Before I became familiar with the work of Bazin, I felt that film had to be ambitious and socially conscious to be valuable. Bazin and Cahiers helped me realise that cinema was sui generis , that film didn’t have to prove its social relevance, and that film should be judged on its own terms.

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But back then, bucking mainstream American criticism and showing appreciation for commercial pictures was a risky proposition. My first review (for The Village Voice) was of Psycho ; because I treated Hitchcock as a major artist, and Psycho as a masterpiece, I got a major, major amount of hate mail. Before the auteurists, Hitchcock was considered trivial. Now the notion that Hitchcock’s body of work was important is not so controversial.

Let’s move on to the work of a very different critic. Manny Farber (the author of Negative Space) wrote about film for Time, The Nation, and Artforum from the late 40s through the early 70s.

Manny Farber was the ultimate iconoclast. He pointed out the ways in which some of the most revered directors of the era, such as John Huston, were pretentious and insensitive to the medium. At times he would underrate people who were overrated. On the other hand, he brought to broader attention some directors who had previously been dismissed as insignificant, such as Samuel Fuller. Like Warshow, Farber uplifted action movies.

Some credit Faber with creating a prose style that matched the fluidity of film.

He was a great writer. I think his reviews read better now than they did at the moment he wrote them.

Farber is remembered for favouring what he called ‘termite art’, art which burrowed into its subject matter in a down-to-earth way, over ‘white elephant art’, which pretentiously trumpeted its own importance. Did his focus on the value of ‘termite art’ alter perceptions of popular cinema?

Farber took unpretentious films seriously, and encouraged others to do so too. He influenced not just filmgoers, but also filmmakers. He had the same kind of influence on the new directors of the 70s that Bazin had on the Nouvelle Vague of the 60s. I think the cinema of Spielberg and Scorsese was much influenced by Farber.

Your final choice is The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, by David Thomson. It was first published in 1975, and a fifth edition just came out in October. Tell me why you selected this over other reference works.

This volume is a compendium of biographical profiles of just about every major figure in film. But it is really much more than a movie reference book; Thomson writes better than almost any other encyclopaedic critic. And he writes with a great deal of humour. He packs a lot into each entry in his Dictionary.

Thomson is a great analyst of acting. He did the same thing with actors that Bazin did with directors: he ennobled their work and made us all see how cinema depends on them.

Why is Thomson’s work still worth reading in the age of IMDB? Why is any of this criticism still worth reading?

The work of these critics is just much more nuanced than what you can find on Internet movie databases. Agee, Bazin, Faber, Warshow, and Thomson still make great reading today. They don’t just broaden our knowledge of film; they deepen it.

Are today’s critics serving more as consumer guides?

All critics were in some sense consumer guides. There is nothing wrong with being a consumer guide. I know that the term is used in derogation. But the best writers were also the best consumer guides.

March 9, 2011

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Andrew Sarris

Andrew Sarris was a film critic and professor of film studies (1969–2010) at Columbia University. In 1960 Sarris began writing for the Village Voice. Sarris outlined his radical approach to film criticism in the essay “Notes on the Auteur Theory” (1962). He also applied the approach in his influential book The American Cinema: Directors and Directions 1929–1968 (1968). Sarris left the Village Voice in 1989 to write for the New York Observer, where he remained for 20 years.

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Postmodern Metanarratives pp 38–49 Cite as

Literature and Film: A Brief Overview of Theory and Criticism

Décio Torres Cruz 3 , 4

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The close relationship between literature and film has existed since the advent of cinema due to the strong visual characteristics of both media. D. W. Griffith wanted to film in the same way as Charles Dickens wrote novels. Similarly, Tolstoy wanted to write like a camera films (Paech, 1988, pp. 122–3). George Bluestone, in establishing the limits of both the novel and the film, argues that novelist and film director meet in the attempt “to make you see”, the former through the mind; the latter through the eye. For him, the root difference between the two media “lies between the percept of the visual image and the concept of the mental image” (1957, p. 137). He considers the end products of novel and film as representing different aesthetic genera, since each is autonomous and each is characterized by unique and specific properties (p. 139). Bluestone states that “a film is not thought; it is perceived” (p. 141). Therefore, film cannot have direct access to the power of discursive forms because it is a presentational medium (except for its use of dialogues). Whereas “the novel discourses, the film must picture” (p. 140).

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Cruz, D.T. (2014). Literature and Film: A Brief Overview of Theory and Criticism. In: Postmodern Metanarratives. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137439734_3

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The Oxford Handbook of Film Theory

Kyle Stevens is the author of Mike Nichols: Sex, Language, and the Reinvention of Psychological Realism . His work has appeared in Critical Inquiry, Cultural Critique, Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Adaptation, Critical Quarterly, New Review of Film and Television Studies, World Picture, and several edited collections.

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Despite changes in the media landscape, film remains a vital force in contemporary culture, as do our ideas of what “a movie” or “the cinematic” are. Indeed, we might say that the category of film now only exists in theory. Whereas film-theoretical discussion at the turn of the twenty-first century was preoccupied, understandably, by digital technology’s permeation of virtually all aspects of the film object, this volume moves the conversation away from a focus on film’s materiality toward timely questions concerning the ethics, politics, and even aesthetics of thinking about the medium of cinema. To put it another way, this collection narrows in on the subject of film, not with a nostalgic sensibility but with the recognition that what constitutes a film is historically contingent, in dialogue with the vicissitudes of entertainment, art, and empire. The volume is divided into six sections: Meta-theory; Film Theory’s Project of Emancipation; Apparatus and Perception; Audiovisuality; How Close Is Close Reading?; and The Turn to Experience.

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Feminist Film Theory: An Introductory Reading List

Evolving from the analysis of representations of women in film, feminist film theory asks questions about identity, sexuality, and the politics of spectatorship.

Director Julie Dash poses for the movie "Daughters of the Dust," circa 1991

Not unlike the emergence of feminist theory and criticism in the domains of art and literature, the women’s movement of the late 1960s and 1970s sparked a focused interrogation of images of women in film and of women’s participation in film production. The 1970s witnessed the authorship of massively influential texts by writers such as Claire Johnston, Molly Haskell, and Laura Mulvey in the United Kingdom and the United States, and psychoanalysis was a reigning method of inquiry, though Marxism and semiotics also informed the field.

Feminist film theory has provoked debates about the representations of female bodies, sexuality, and femininity on screen while posing questions concerning identity, desire, and the politics of spectatorship, among other topics. Crucially, an increasing amount of attention has been paid by theorists to intersectionality, as scholars investigate the presence and absence of marginalized and oppressed film subjects and producers. This reading list surveys a dozen articles, presented chronologically, as a starting point for readers interested in the lines of inquiry that have fueled the field over the last fifty years.

Laura Mulvey, “ Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema ,” Screen 16, no. 3 (1975): 6–18.

To put it most simply, Mulvey’s 1975 essay is nothing short of iconic. A cornerstone of psychoanalytic feminist film theory, “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema” describes the ways in which women are displayed on screen for the pleasure of the male spectator. Many of the essays listed below engage explicitly with Mulvey’s essay and the notion of the male gaze, illustrating what Corrin Columpar (2002, see below) describes as a “near compulsive return” to this pioneering work. But even Mulvey herself would later push back on some of her most provocative claims , including her positioning of the spectator as male, as well as her omission of female protagonists.

“ Feminism and Film: Critical Approaches ,” Camera Obscura 1, no. 1 (1976): 3–10.

Established in 1976, Camera Obscura was (and remains) a groundbreaking venue for feminist film studies. This introductory essay to the first issue contextualizes the necessity of such a journal in a scholarly and cultural environment in which there is a true “need” for the feminist study of film. Camera Obscura was, in part, an American response to the wave of British contributions to the field, often published in the journal Screen (the home of Mulvey’s essay). The editors spend much of this essay unpacking the camera obscura, an image projection device, as a metaphor for feminist film theory, as it functions as a symbol of contradiction that “emphasizes the points of convergence of ideology and representation, of ideology as representation.”

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Michelle Criton, Julia Lesage, Judith Mayne, B. Ruby Rich, and Anna Marie Taylor, “ Women and Film: A Discussion of Feminist Aesthetics ,” New German Critique no. 13 (1978): 83–107.

What makes film an enticing object of study for feminists in the first place? As Criton et al. attest, the answers lie in the social rather than individual or private dimensions of film as well as in its accessibility and synthesis of “art, life, politics, sex, etc.” The conversation featured here provides a glimpse into contemporary conversations about the work of Claire Johnston and Laura Mulvey and psychoanalysis as a shaping force of early feminist film theory. Additionally, they consider how a feminist filmmaking aesthetic can reveal and critique the ideologies that underpin the oppression of women.

Judith Mayne, “ Feminist Film Theory and Criticism ,” Signs 11, no. 1 (1985): 81–100.

Acknowledging the profound impact of “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,” Mayne surveys the development of feminist film theory, including both its historical contexts and its fixations upon psychoanalysis and the notions of spectacle and the gaze. Mayne outlines how contradiction—variously construed—is “ the central issue in feminist film theory and criticism” (emphasis added). Additionally, the author calls into question the historiography of women’s cinema, noting the “risk of romanticizing women’s exclusion from the actual production of films.” She urges scholars to, certainly, continue the necessary exploration of forgotten and understudied female filmmakers but to also open up the conception of women’s cinema to include not just the work of female directors but also their peripheral roles as critics and audience members.

Jane Gaines, “ White Privilege and Looking Relations: Race and Gender in Feminist Film Theory ,” Cultural Critique , no. 4 (1986): 59–79.

What, Gaines asks, are the limitations of feminist theory’s early fixation on gender at the expense of nuanced understandings of race, class, and sexuality? While feminist theory may, in its earliest years, have opened up possibilities for interrogating the gendered politics of spectatorship, it was largely exclusionary of diverse perspectives, including, as Gaines notes, lesbians and women of color. In doing so, “feminist theory has helped to reinforce white middle-class [normative] values, and to the extent that it works to keep women from seeing other structures of oppression, it functions ideologically.” Through an analysis of the 1975 film Mahogany and informed by black feminist theorists and writers such as bell hooks, Mayne argues that psychoanalysis ultimately results in erroneous readings of films about race.

Noël Carroll, “ The Image of Women in Film: A Defense of a Paradigm ,” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 48, no. 4 (1990): 349–60.

Carroll theorizes why psychoanalysis was so attractive to feminists in the 1970s and 1980s: by providing a theoretical framework, he argues, psychoanalysis was a means to “incorporate” and “organize” the “scattered insights of the image of women in film approach.” Taking issue with Mulvey’s perspective on voyeurism, Carroll positions the image approach, or the study of the image of women in film—in this case with an emphasis on theories of emotion— as a “rival research program” to psychoanalysis. He argues that paradigm scenarios, or cases in which emotions are learned behavioral responses, influence spectatorship and how audiences respond emotionally to women on screen.

Karen Hollinger, “ Theorizing Mainstream Female Spectatorship: The Case of the Popular Lesbian Film ,” Cinema Journal 37, no. 2 (1998): 3–17.

Hollinger surveys theoretical responses to lesbian subjectivity and the female spectatorship of popular lesbian film narratives. She articulates the subversive power of the lesbian look as a challenge to Mulvey’s notion of the male gaze, asserting its potential to empower female spectators as agents of desire.

Corinn Columpar, “ The Gaze As Theoretical Touchstone: The Intersection of Film Studies, Feminist Theory, and Postcolonial Theory ,” Women’s Studies Quarterly 30, no. 1/2 (2002): 25–44.

The male gaze is not, as Columpar articulates, the sole tool “in the contemporary feminist film critic’s box”: so are the ethnographic and colonial gazes, brought to film theory from postcolonial studies. Columpar reiterates that the early fixation upon gender and the male gaze “failed to account for other key determinants of social power and position.” Interdisciplinary perspectives, such as those informed by postcolonial theory, are better equipped to unpack “issues of racial and national difference and acknowledge the role that race and ethnicity play in looking relations.”

Janell Hobson, “ Viewing in the Dark: Toward a Black Feminist Approach to Film ,” Women’s Studies Quarterly 30, no. 1/2 (2002): 45–59.

Hobson illuminates the absence and/or disembodied presence of Black female bodies in Hollywood cinema. She argues that the invisibility of Black women’s bodies on screen was a defense mechanism against the disruption of “whites as beautiful, as the norm.” By turning away from the gaze and toward the sound of Black women’s disembodied voices in speech and song, viewers are better equipped to recognize how their voices are “used in mainstream cinema by way of supporting and defining the normalized (white) male body,” therefore “ensur[ing] the identity of white masculinity.”

E. Ann Kaplan, “ Global Feminisms and the State of Feminist Film Theory ,” Signs 30, no. 1 (2004): 1236–48.

Kaplan reflects on her trajectory as a pioneering feminist film theorist, illuminating her shift from cinema’s depictions of the “oppressions of white Western women” to the study of trauma in global and indigenous cinema. Importantly, she notes that in her earlier research, she failed to “confront the really tough questions of my own positionality.” In doing so, she invites readers to consider the ethics of witnessing and white, Western feminist participation in the development of multicultural approaches.

Jane M. Gaines, “ Film History and the Two Presents of Feminist Film Theory ,” Cinema Journal 44, no. 1 (2004): 113–19.

It may come as a surprise to many that, internationally speaking, women were indeed undertaking various forms of creative labor in the world of film production during the silent era, including screenwriting, producing, directing, etc. The question, then, is not just “why these women were forgotten” but also “why we forgot them.” Gaines considers the “historical turn” in feminist film studies, arguing that scholars must be mindful of how they narrativize and rewrite the rediscovered facts of women’s work in cinema.

Sangita Gopal, “ Feminism and the Big Picture: Conversations ,” Cinema Journal 57, no. 2 (2018): 131–36.

In this fascinating article, Gopal synthesizes responses to a series of questions posed to film scholars regarding feminist theory, praxis, and pedagogy, as well as feminism as “an unfinished project” and feminist media studies as a “boundless” field. Where theory is concerned, Gopal usefully highlights Lingzhen Wang’s and Priya Jaikumar’s suggestions for more explicitly linking and situating feminist media studies within “the big picture.” Notably, Jaikumar ponders the possibilities of feminism creating a framework such that “it is not possible to ask a question if it is absent of a politics.”

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Reel Life With Jane

Movie Review: The Theory of Everything

[button color=”green” size=”small” link=”https://www.reellifewithjane.com/product/movie-review-the-theory-of-everything/” target=”blank” ]Editors: Buy This Review[/button]

SYNOPSIS: Eddie Redmayne plays renowned physicist Stephen Hawking in this movie based on a book by his first wife, Jane Hawking.

REVIEW: Most of us know Stephen Hawking as he is today — someone with a deep understanding of things we can barely comprehend, but who spends his life in a wheelchair communicating with a speech-generating device. All the result of ALS, a.k.a. Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“The Theory of Everything” takes us back to the beginning of Hawking’s scientific career at the University of Cambridge in England. It’s such a joy to see the young Stephen Hawking walking, riding bikes, wooing his future wife, Jane, at parties and receptions (though he adamantly admits that he “doesn’t dance”). We know how his life turns out, but this movie, based on Jane’s book “Travelling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen,” offers a deeper insight into his struggles and triumphs.

The story begins in 1963, when Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) is a cosmology student at the University of Cambridge, where he meets Jane (Felicity Jones). As he’s contemplating his course of study, he learns that he’s suffering from ALS, the incurable degenerative motor-neuron disease with a bleak outlook.

He’s given just two years to live, but Jane becomes his biggest supporter, refusing to let him give up on either his research or their relationship. Thus, his research topic is suddenly revealed to him. He’ll study the nature of time, something it appears he has very little of.

Hawking’s brilliant brain, which is unaffected by his disease even as it steals all of his motor skills one by one, is soon discovered by the rest of the world as he attempts to unearth “the theory of everything.” No small feat, and neither is his life, burdened by enormous challenges as he and Jane get married and start a family.

I love movies that take us behind the scenes of people we only read about or see in videos. “The Theory of Everything” not only takes us into the life of Hawking, but it does so with great compassion and elegance. There’s something about the lighting of this film and the musical score by Johann Johannsson that elevates it beyond just another commercial film.

If I was handing out awards, Redmayne’s performance would surely garner multiple nominations and wins. He does the impossible — turns Hawking into a regular person we feel like we know, someone who could be living next door to us.

Unfortunately, “The Theory of Everything” has been shut out of many of the awards to date, including the Film Independent Spirit Awards , National Board of Review , Gotham Awards , and New York Film Critics Circle Awards . Redmayne did, however, win Best Breakout Performance from the Hollywood Film Awards, and the film won the Audience Award at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

The movie is a triumph of the human spirit (remember, he was only supposed to live two years; he turns 73 in January), but also a sweet romance about a marriage that was loving but unconventional. Because the movie is based on Jane’s book, she’s an integral part of the story. I wish they had delved more into the dissolution of their marriage, although I know there’s only so much you can fit into 123 minutes.

Blending science, romance and emotion, “The Theory of Everything” will definitely find a home on my “Top Movies of 2014” list. Check it out if it’s playing at a theater near you.

THE DETAILS (May Contain Spoilers):

Sex/Nudity: Flirting and kissing between Stephen and Jane. Discussion of Hawking’s sexuality, including the fact that he likes looking at Penthouse magazines.

Violence/Gore: Hawking suffers a bad fall and ends up in the hospital. The movie also shows the effects of his debilitating illness throughout his life.

Profanity: “T-ts,” “damn” and “Sod off.”

Drugs/Alcohol: Social drinking at dinners, pubs, receptions and other events.

Which Kids Will Like It? Kids 13 and older with an interest in Hawking or science-related topics.

Will Grownups Like It? This lovely film is a graceful, beautiful portrait of a scientist who changed the way we look at the universe and each other.

JANE’S REEL RATING SYSTEM: One Reel – Even the Force can’t save it. Two Reels – Coulda been a contender Three Reels – Something to talk about. Four Reels – You want the truth? Great flick! Five Reels – Wow! The stuff dreams are made of.

Images in this review used courtesy of Focus Features.

Jane Boursaw

7 responses to “Movie Review: The Theory of Everything”

[…] film, and Chris Rock as a comedian trying to figure things out. Also, be sure and check out “The Theory of Everything,” “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1,” “Horrible Bosses 2” and […]

I look forward to seeing this. I think Eddie Redmayne is extraordinary.

He’s amazing in this movie. Like I mentioned in the review, he really makes you feel like you KNOW Stephen Hawking in a way you didn’t before. He’s not just the smart guy in a wheelchair anymore. He’s a real person.

[…] “The Theory of Everything” didn’t make the best film list and seems to be dropping off of everyone’s radar. The Dardennes Brothers film, “Two Days, One Night,” is also worthy of this list but possibly because it’s a foreign film it’s been knocked out of the running. David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” and Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Inherent Vice” also didn’t make the cut, while the Angelina Jolie inspirational film “Unbroken” made the list, as did Clint Eastwood’s “American Sniper.” Both films will be released Christmas day. […]

I so loved this movie – much more than I ever could have anticipated. I want to see it again and again. The performances were fantastic and I’d be surprised if Redmayne doesn’t win a major award. He was brilliant.

[…] (Image from: https://www.reellifewithjane.com/2014/12/movie-review-the-theory-of-everything/) […]

[…] READ: Jane’s Review of “The Theory of Everything” […]

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‘the theory of everything’ review: visually striking german science caper fails to captivate.

Director Timm Kröger’s second feature, which premiered in competition in Venice, follows a young physicist attending a conference in the Alps.

By Jordan Mintzer

Jordan Mintzer

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Have you heard of a movie about a brilliant quantum physicist who travels to a remote location so he can test a groundbreaking theory that could change the world forever? It’s shot in breathtaking black-and-white, and features Nazis and a doomed romance.

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Popular Theory

By Bobby LePire | February 5, 2024

Popular Theory , which clearly should have a The in its title but inexplicably doesn’t, is directed by Ali Scher and written by Scher and Joe Swanson. The family-friendly comedy centers on Eriwn (Sophia Reid-Gantzert), whose mother named her after Erwin Schrödinger, of cat infamy. With her mother gone, Erwin, her conflict-avoiding dad, Arthur (Marc Evan Jackson), and her sister Ari (Chloe East) live with Aunt Tammy (Cheryl Hines). Tammy tries to understand the brilliant Erwin but cannot find a real connection.

Erwin’s school life is not much better, as the 12-year-old skipped several grades and is in high school. While her teachers are excited by her intelligence, Erwin’s schoolmates ignore or make fun of her. Enter Winston (Lincoln Lambert), another 12-year-old who’s jumped over a few grades. Erwin and Winston decide to partner up on the upcoming science fair. After some discussion, the “colleagues” formulate a stick of gum that, when chewed, makes that person popular. However, creating it is easier said than done, as Tammy has banned science in a misguided attempt to get Erwin to be more social.

Popular Theory (still needs a The ) is broad. Test subject one, Casey (Kat Conner Sterling), feels like a cartoon version of an unpopular girl. She does goofy things such as knit phone cases and laughs with the popular girls, of which Ari is one, despite not being a part of the conversation. The male test subject is ultra-nerdy Alan (Varak Baronian), who is obsessed with Batman’s sidekick, Robin, and nothing else. He feels more like the late 1990s/early 2000s depiction of a nerd than the more realistic versions currently depicted. To be fair to the script, even the other comic book devotees find Alan’s one-track mind off-putting and cape-wearing off-puttingly weird. But by going so hard, Casey and Alan’s rise to the top of the social ladder works better than it would have had the filmmakers gone for realism.

“… the ‘colleagues’ formulate a stick of gum that, when chewed, makes that person popular .”

The other story element that works well here is the family dynamic. Aunt Tammy’s irritation at Erwin does not make sense right away, but there is a moment when she’s artfully doing a client’s hair that cements her feelings beautifully. Arthur’s need to keep the peace or lapse into grief is laid out within just a few scenes. Ari and Erwin’s relationship is not as refined as it should be, though a moment near the end still lands.

The reason that scene is emotional is thanks to the cast of Popular Theory . Reid-Gantzert is delightful. The character’s frustrations and loneliness feel authentic, while the actor’s comedic timing is spot on. Lambert is also hilarious, especially when walking “like a duck.” East is both sweet and annoying, and she sells the final confrontation. Jackson’s deadpan and dead-eyed look speaks volumes about the character. Hines shines as the overbearing but loving aunt. Sterling and Baronian have fantastic comedic timing and greatly add to the film’s overall silly tone.

Popular Theory is an amusing film with just enough heart to be more than a one-time watch. Scher’s film feels like one of the better Disney Channel originals in its heyday. The script is goofy but also charming, and the cast is very funny.

For more information, visit the official Popular Theory page .

Popular Theory (2024)

Directed: Ali Scher

Written: Ali Scher, Joe Swanson

Starring: Sophia Reid-Gantzert, Lincoln Lambert, Chloe East, Kat Conner Sterling, Varak Baronian, Cheryl Hines, Marc Evan Jackson, etc.

Movie score: 7.5/10

"…an amusing film with just enough heart..."

Camp Hideout

Due to the presence of Christopher Lloyd, director Sean Olson's Camp Hideout will bring to mind Camp Nowhere for several audience members. Written by Kat...

The Quest For Tom Sawyer’s Gold

The Quest For Tom Sawyer's Gold is directed by Kirk Harris. The screenplay was written by Nick Pollack, with revisions/additional material by Jerome...

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Chaos Theory Movie Review

[Editor’s Note: Before (or after, your choice) you read Cole’s glowing review of Chaos Theory, enter to win some awesome FREE Stuff! by clicking here!]

We want our movies to cover new ground. Going to see a movie that only achieves what others have done before is like seeing a rerun of a television show where your favorite characters have been replaced by strangers. It’s admittedly difficult to create something truly original – to connect to an audience in a new way – but Chaos Theory does this in leaps and bounds.

Frank Allen (Ryan Reynolds) is an efficient man. He lives his life by making to-do lists and completing them, checking off each moment as a task to finish and sharing his methods in corporate speaking events. One morning, his wife Susan (Emily Mortimer) sets the clocks so that he’s ten minutes behind schedule, and the shift creates a chain of events that drastically changes his career and his relationships with his wife, daughter (Matrya Fedor) and best friend Buddy (Stuart Townsend).

As with most good movies, a synopsis doesn’t do it justice. It seems on the surface as the classic tale of a stuffy guy who learns to let go and live life to the fullest, but Chaos Theory just isn’t as happy as all that. It isn’t a story of a man having a mid-life crisis while the audience laughs along at his antics. It is the story of a man who learns things specific to his life that the audience can be shocked by and that he can hopefully rise above. But even if things turn out alright, no one is going to be walking into the sunset at the end.

Chaos Theory shines by breathing new life into the classic story concept of a man frustrated by his life. It gives an equal spotlight to the sweet, humorous moments and decimating failings of true family life – displaying marital flirtation and fatherly love alongside hurt feelings and slamming doors. This is only made possible because the writing from screenwriter Daniel Taplitz is strong, and because Ryan Reynolds commands the scene whether he’s making you laugh or breaking down.

The acting is incredibly solid throughout. Emily Mortimer plays well as a loving, dynamic wife who has to swing between reactionary to active force in the ride that her husband is going through. Likewise, Stuart Townsend plays a nebulously likable best friend who flirts openly with Frank’s wife, but has his back when things get rough. Of course the lynch pin is Reynolds himself who is flawless the entire film.

Once again, this isn’t a movie about a man who gets bored with his job and his married life and buys a Harley. It’s a movie about a man who has to deal with real emotional issues that blindside him, creating a deep rift between him and his wife – so he buys a Harley. He also contemplates suicide, goes mostly insane and contemplates offing his best friend with a shotgun. Elements you won’t see in the typical light-hearted mid-life crisis affair. But even with those elements, Chaos Theory never gets that dark (the scene where he buys the shotgun is especially funny). Think Stranger Than Fiction without the gimmick. Think Liar Liar with more depth and less wacky.

Unfortunately, it is only playing in select cities, opening this weekend (April 11 th ), but if you’re anywhere near the cities listed below, I’d urge you to make the trip to see this movie. It’s definitely worth it.

The Upside: Ryan Reynolds seamlessly goes from neurotic to funny to desperate to elated to destructive and back again. His range is amazing to watch.

The Downside: There isn’t much wrong with it – a few lines that seem out of place maybe, but for the most part, the movie keeps you guessing and wallowing along with Frank.

On the Side: Fanboys will enjoy that director Marcos Siega has directed episodes of “Veronica Mars” and “Dexter”.

Chaos Theory opens in Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Toronto, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, DC, Seattle and Dallas.

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The eden theory videos, the eden theory photos.

After his best friend disappears, Tom Edwards is investigated by a relentless detective as he tries to lead a normal summer. Tom fears facing the truth and struggles to cope with the loss of his friend as the world around him seems to fall apart. Intense and unpredictable, The Eden Theory is a "one of a kind" Thriller. Sold worldwide.

Genre: Horror, Mystery & thriller, Sci-fi

Original Language: English

Director: Kyle Misak

Producer: Jesse Charles , Don Joseph Chase , Kyle Misak

Writer: Kyle Misak , Jesse Charles

Runtime: 1h 47m

Production Co: Throwback Pictures

Cast & Crew

Jesse Charles

Carel Struycken

The Stranger

Larry Hankin

Jeffrey Weissman

Trevor Snarr

Brit MacRae

Chandra Michaels

Mrs. Edwards

Steven Perillo

Jasper Johnson

Screenwriter

Don Joseph Chase

Erin Hughes

Cinematographer

Film Editing

Gregory De Iulio

Original Music

Production Design

Costume Design

Critic Reviews for The Eden Theory

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, the suicide theory.

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“The Killer and the Man Who Couldn’t Be Killed.” The basic set-up for the Aussie thriller “The Suicide Theory” could have been that of an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” or any number or horrendous Quentin Tarantino knock-offs that tried to sell audiences on philosophical hitmen in suits in the late ‘90s. I’ll admit to some serious apprehension given my general dislike of both twist-heavy Serling knock-offs and screenwriters who don’t realize how difficult it is to do what QT does. So I'm happy to report that, for an hour or so, “The Suicide Theory” is surprisingly strong. Carried by an engaging lead performance and witty dialogue that can reference “Candide” and “Sunset Blvd.” without seeming overly forced, the movie works. Until it doesn’t. The final Act O’Twists, which almost anyone will see coming from very far away, lets down the character work that preceded it and the whole piece sinks just a bit too far into the melodramatic muck from which its characters are trying to extricate themselves.

Steven (the excellent Steve Mouzakis ) is a brutal, unapologetic hitman, the kind who leaves no witnesses and murders a man in the opening scene because he interrupted a conversation he was having. Steven is hired by the meek Percival ( Leon Cain ), a man with unusual scars on his face and an even more unusual story. Percival wants to die but he can’t kill himself. Every time he tries, he wakes up in a hospital (and there’s a clever, Coen-esque running joke in which the same doctor says “ You’re lucky to be alive .”) He’s even convinced that Steven can’t just ice him like he does his other targets. After an opening discussion on a train, Steven shoots Percival three times at close range. Percival lives. Not long after, he shoots him again, in the head, taking out his eye. Percival lives. Percival tells Steven that he can only kill him when Percival really doesn’t want to die. Percival did something wrong and the powers that be won’t let him take the easy way out.

So Steven and Percival form a unique relationship—the killer and the guy who wants to be killed. The problem is that Steven doesn’t really want to be a killer any more. He’s really only in the business because of the emotional baggage he carries after the hit and run accident that killed the only woman he ever cared about. Similarly, Percival might have more to live for if his boyfriend Chris hadn’t been killed. These are two men at opposite ends of the spectrum socially, sexually, culturally, who, of course, learn they have more in common than they originally thought. And that fate may have actually brought them together for a reason.

There are signs of clichéd filmmaking from the beginning in the flat close-ups and over-used score, but the performances carry “Suicide Theory” for a surprisingly long time. I wouldn’t be stunned at all to see Mouzakis pop up more and more in bigger parts. He’s engaging in a way that makes a loathsome character like Steven possible to watch. This can be a strikingly ugly, scuzzy film, such as in a pair of scenes near the end of the first act in which Steven has a one-night stand that ends in near-strangulation and Percival is the victim of a hate crime. And yet Mouzakis’ performance and director Dru Brown ’s filmmaking keep the piece from turning off viewers in a way that it can’t win them back.

Just as “The Suicide Theory” is becoming an interesting meditation on fate vs. free will, it reaches a final act that’s really just a mess. While the film probably wouldn’t exist without its final twists, I would argue that it would be a much stronger film without them. Using the arc of a hitman’s redemption to comment on fate—given that murder is the ultimate theft of free will—works without the “Twilight Zone” hook. The result, like so many attempts Percival takes on his own life, is a near-miss.

Brian Tallerico

Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.

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Film credits.

The Suicide Theory (2015)

Rated R for strong violence, language and some sexual content

Leon Cain as Percival

Steve Mazoukis as Steve

Michael J Kospiah

Cinematography

Dan Macarthur

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Popular theory, common sense media reviewers.

Science + friendship = formula for fun; insults, bullying.

Popular Theory Movie Poster: Erwin, age 12, looks pleased with herself, standing in front of a chalkboard and beakers in front of her

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

The plot revolves around pheromones, although the

Popularity is superficial and empty; it's friendsh

Erwin and Winston are young geniuses who love expl

Most primary characters are White, but co-lead Win

A mob chases a teen girl, who's concerned for her

A crowd, including adults, becomes suddenly attrac

Insults, such as "dork," "nerd," "loser," and "stu

The effects of the pheromone-sweetening chemical c

Educational Value

The plot revolves around pheromones, although the chemical reaction they produce is exaggerated. The two main characters, a 12-year-old scientist and a 13-year-old chemist, share scientific theories. Many scientific terms and ideologies are mentioned, and scientists' names are frequently referenced (particularly Erwin Schrödinger, whom the protagonist is named after).

Positive Messages

Popularity is superficial and empty; it's friendship that fills and sustains us. Curiosity fuels innovation. Science is trial and error.

Positive Role Models

Erwin and Winston are young geniuses who love exploring, discussing, and debating science. Their curiosity, intelligence, and teamwork allow them to make a significant discovery. Winston is sometimes the target of others' jokes, but he doesn't let his classmates get under his skin.

Diverse Representations

Most primary characters are White, but co-lead Winston is played by Korean American actor Lincoln Lambert, and the high school's student body is racially diverse. Main character Erwin is a 12-year-old scientific genius, a role that's counter-stereotypical for a girl. Popular students at school include actors who are AAPI (of Chinese, Indian, and Filipino descent, among others). Science fair judges (one man, one woman) are Black. Directed and co-written by female filmmaker Ali Scher.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A mob chases a teen girl, who's concerned for her safety. Bullying, including insulting and tripping the victim.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A crowd, including adults, becomes suddenly attracted to a teen girl. Suggestive gesture. Teen girl talks a lot about dating and crushes. Memorable kiss. Teens comment that their friend is "looking hot." One scene includes a close-up of high school girls' legs; later, a main character who's trying to get the attention of a boy she likes wears a short skirt.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insults, such as "dork," "nerd," "loser," and "stupid."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

The effects of the pheromone-sweetening chemical compound can seem almost like the result of using illegal drugs: Test subjects are overcome with positive feelings, find it to be quite habit-forming, and resort to desperate actions to try to get more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Popular Theory is a family-friendly comedy about two kids who unlock the chemistry behind popularity. Bridging the gap between STEM topics and interpersonal relationships, it promotes science and friendship and uses humor to drive home the importance of the social sciences for kids of all ages. Main characters/young scientific geniuses Erwin ( Sophia Reid-Gantzert ) and Winston (Lincoln Lambert) rattle off theorems, famous physicists' names, and molecular references—some of which may leave kids asking about pheromones and how they relate to attraction. The story applies it mainly to popularity, but in one scene, romantic appeal is implied: A 16-year-old girl is chased by a mob of attracted teens and adults, including a woman who licks her lips at the girl (this is played for laughs). There's also a memorable kiss, a couple of mildly suggestive gestures/comments, and some bullying, but overall, iffy content is minimal. Language is limited to insults like "dork" and "nerd." The effects of the movie's popularity-inducing gum could be seen as having parallels to recreational drug use; parents can take the opportunity to start a conversation about the risks of using a substance that artificially creates a temporary surge of feeling good. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

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What's the Story?

At 12 years old, highly intelligent Erwin ( Sophia Reid-Gantzert ) is the youngest student at Magnolia High. She's so caught up in her scientific ideas and endeavors that her family is worried that she lacks socialization. When 13-year-old chemistry whiz Winston Wilkinson (Lincoln Lambert) moves to her school, the two kids team up to win the science fair with their unique project: POPULAR THEORY, which identifies the science behind what makes some kids popular and some not.

Is It Any Good?

Mixing the two definitions of "chemistry" is an amusing catalyst to get kids to think about the relevance of science in everyday life. The chemical compound that Erwin and Winston create is far from realistic, but Popular Theory 's message that friendship is more valuable in quality than quantity is pure truth—and it's something that kids need to hear as they head into the challenging middle and high school years.

That said, opportunities are missed to deliver a more meaningful message. For instance, writer-director Ali Scher shows viewers that Winston is being raised by a hoarder in challenging circumstances, but the issue is never really explored (or resolved). And the movie's plentiful STEM info is more likely to excite budding scientists who recognize the terms and name drops, rather than lead young viewers to seek out more science info for the first time. Bottom line? It's not perfect, but it is cute and entertaining, and it elevates the benefits of learning science. Popular Theory verifies that "nerds" don't need revenge—they just need the space to be themselves.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what Popular Theory 's message is about the nature of popularity. Why is popularity appealing? How relevant is it to who you are and what you'll ultimately accomplish in life?

What makes someone a good friend? Why is friendship important to personal growth and happiness? Are the characters in the film good friends?

Who was Erwin Schrödinger? Why do you think the main character is named after him?

Did you notice any positive diverse representations in the movie? What about stereotypes?

Movie Details

In theaters : February 9, 2024
Cast : Sophia Reid-Gantzert , Lincoln Lambert , Cheryl Hines
Director : Ali Scher
Inclusion Information : Female directors, Female actors, Female writers
Studio : Blue Fox Entertainment
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : STEM , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship , High School
Character Strengths : Curiosity , Teamwork
Run time : 88 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : thematic elements
Last updated : March 3, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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E. encouraged. The author notes the strengths of the film Eastern Tropics include the fact (s) that it. I. is visually attractive. II. portrays a very unique relationship. III. attempts to expand the romantic comedy genre. A. I only. The title "Movie Review" is not very specific. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
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Movie Review Read Theory. Get a hint. The main idea of the passage is that Eastern Tropics. Click the card to flip. C. fails because it attempts to combine two incompatible genres. Quizlet has study tools to help you learn anything. Improve your grades and reach your goals with flashcards, practice tests and expert-written solutions today.
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Popular Theory, which clearly should have a The in its title but inexplicably doesn't, is directed by Ali Scher and written by Scher and Joe Swanson. The family-friendly comedy centers on Eriwn (Sophia Reid-Gantzert), whose mother named her after Erwin Schrödinger, of cat infamy. With her mother gone, Erwin, her conflict-avoiding dad, Arthur (Marc Evan Jackson), and
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The Eden Theory
Movie Info. After his best friend disappears, Tom Edwards is investigated by a relentless detective as he tries to lead a normal summer. Tom fears facing the truth and struggles to cope with the ...
The Suicide Theory movie review (2015)
There are signs of clichéd filmmaking from the beginning in the flat close-ups and over-used score, but the performances carry "Suicide Theory" for a surprisingly long time. I wouldn't be stunned at all to see Mouzakis pop up more and more in bigger parts. He's engaging in a way that makes a loathsome character like Steven possible to ...
Popular Theory Movie Review
What you will—and won't—find in this movie. Educational Value. The plot revolves around pheromones, although the. Positive Messages. Popularity is superficial and empty; it's friendsh. Positive Role Models. Erwin and Winston are young geniuses who love expl. Diverse Representations. Most primary characters are White, but co-lead Win.