Tape | | Cast : | Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard | | Director : | Richard Linklater | | Studio : | Lions Gate | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | January 01, 2001 | | DVD Released Date : | July 20, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 02, 2005 | | Summary | the anti-thesis of Hollywood garbage | Content
 | What if someone told you that an entire hour and a half movie takes place all in one room, a dingy motel room that is. Not only that, it has a total of 3 actors, and one-third of the actors don't even come into the film until the halfway point. So what this means is that for about 45 minutes, you're watching two people talk in one room. No transition scenes or anything like that, just one room, two people.
Uma Thurman, Robert Sean Leonard, and in particular Ethan Hawke was so believable with the acting that that's all that's needed to make this movie work, since it has a perfect script. This is exactly how people in real life would act and talk. This movie sits at the polar opposite of the recent Star Wars films, which has 0% character depth, and 100% special effects. During parts of Tape, I felt more suspense and tension than I did in any part of Blade Trinity, Elektra, and the latest Star Wars movies...all combined. And no, I'm not exaggerating, I actually added the minutes up, and it wasn't that hard, the math was easy: 90 minutes of drama vs. 2 minutes (Admitedly the 2 minutes was taken from the end of Revenge of the Sith, where I wondered at what point did George Lucas actually lose his mind when he made the abominations known as Episodes 1-3).
Asking someone what they prefer between Tape and Phantom Menace would be a good litmus test to determine whether that person should continue standing in front of you taking your stupid litmus test, or whether you should just walk away from them slowly. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 16, 2005 | | Summary | Wonderful Dialogue- Excellent Acting | Content
| I didn't expect to laugh during Tape- a drama about hostility, rape, and fractured memories. But the dialogue and the delivery of Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard as two rival friends frequently had me laughing out loud. Hawke's character, Vince is such a wonderfully insufferable jerk: coked-out, hostile, santimonious, but oddly articulate and resourceful when he needs to be. When he verbally batters John (Leonard), his old friend, rival, and whom he accuses of raping his childhood sweetheart Amy (Uma Thurman) you can't help but laugh at his verbal astuteness. Hawke's performance is awesome- spasmodic and winning and funny. Robert Sean Leonard has less to do because his character is a more obvious jerk, but he captures his snobby elitism well. The climax in which Amy enters the claustrophobic motel room that serves as the film's setting, kind of deconstructs, twisting over itself so many times that we stop caring. But for Hawke's performance and the way he and Leonard interact, Tape is well worth-seeing. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 08, 2005 | | Summary | An Uneasy Promenade | Content
| Like "My Dinner With Andre," "Tape" is one of those conversation films that zoom by. It works most of the time. Director Richard Linklater who directed Hawke in the equally talky "Before Sunrise" in 1995 and shared an Oscar nomination with Hawke for the screenplay to its sequel "Before Sunset" in 2004 shoots the entire film on digital video, keeping costs down and discovering the cinematic possibilities of low-budget film. Some of his camera technique of whipping back and forth between the actors is a bit overdone. Ethan Hawke and co-star Robert Sean Leonard were co-founders of a now defunct New York theatre company called Malaparte and first starred together in "The Dead Poets Society" with Robin Williams in 1989. Leonard also acted in Hawke's debut directing credit "Chelsea Walls" along with Hawke's now ex-wife Uma Thurman. Thurman met Hawke while starring in one of my favorite films about racial intolerance, "Gattaca," in 1997. So the bottom line is that these three actors and the director have all worked together before, were very comfortable with each other, and it shows on screen. As Vince, Hawke is not the likeable nice guy that got him his Best Supporting Actor nomination for "Training Day." He's a part-time drug dealer, volunteer fireman, who really hasn't started acting responsibly as an adult. At least, this is what his buddy Johnny played by Robert Sean Leonard thinks. Johnny is in town for the premiere of his new independent film at the Lansing film festival and Vincent travels out from Oakland, California to attend. "Tape" really ignited for me when Uma Thurman hit the screen. She plays Amy who is an assistant district attorney that used to go steady with Vince and made love to Johnny senior year. Since Thurman appeared in "Dangerous Liaisons" and got her Best Supporting Actress nomination for "Pulp Fiction," her career has had its ups like "Kill Bill" (parts I & II) & downs "The Avengers." 2005 may be her banner year with 5 films out or coming out: "Be Cool" with John Travolta, "The Women" with Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Meg Ryan & Annette Bening, "The Producers" with Nathan Lane & Matthew Broderick, "Prime" with Meryl Streep & a cameo in "Brothers Grimm" with Heath Ledger & Matt Damon. However great her 2005 may be, she becomes riveting in this 2001 project. Hawke & Leonard become more interesting with her on screen. Stephen Belber's one-act play that was adapted into this project shows how some of us grow up after high school & some just move on. But however that happens, the loves & experiences of those early years have a great impact on how we perceive ourselves & how we approach others. "Tape" is like a walk down memory lane where one does not always wish to promenade. The ending is a bit open-ended (i.e. Was there an assault or not?) that may drive the more concretely minded up the walls, but has the vague recall of something once true. A very interesting evening's entertainment. Enjoy! |
| Rating | | | Date | May 07, 2005 | | Summary | Hotel Room Hell and Dangerous Explosives | Content
| How do you convert a one-act play taking place in a confined space with just three actors into a movie? First, you find three of the best actors you can. OK, done. Ethan Hawke as Vince. Robert Sean Leonard as Jon. Uma Thurman as Amy. Then you build a set that resembles a seedy hotel room from somewhere in Lansing, Michigan so that you can manipulate your two cameras and get excellent framing and lighting that explode your tiny hellish space into a landscape reflecting your exploding hellish dialog. Done. Then you rehearse for a few weeks and let it rip.
And rip it does. Vince is a crazed, drugged out supermanipulative stick of dynamite who sets his sights on his "best friend" Jon. Jon is an indy filmmaker in town for a film festival in which his latest masterpiece is being premiered. Amy is the girlfriend they "shared" way back in highschool. In the course of 83 minutes, the viewer gets completely into the heads of these three people. And what is it all about? Jealousy? Saying you're sorry and really meaning it? Even understanding the nature of your offense? And who offends who in this melodrama? Very interesting questions all around.
This chatty theatrical film is well worth watching because not only is the dialog snappy and nasty and clever and engaging, but the acting is superb. Robert Sean Leonard probably has the most difficult part as the man of "reason" who must apologize for his irrationality, or does he? And Ethan Hawke is flying through his role as a physical and mental menace, while Uma Thurman brings a delicate but dangerous presence into this explosive mix.
Go see this thing. You won't mind the chatter. It will get you going. |
| Rating | | | Date | May 07, 2005 | | Summary | Blown Away | Content
| First of all, I am a HUUUGE fan of Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke. When I first saw Dead Poets' Society, I was absolutely blown away---and then I heard that this dynamic duo was in yet another movie together, and I HAD to check it out.
Thank goodness I did.
TAPE is a wonderful thriller in the sense that there is no music, no change of setting, but simply the characters, Amy, Vincent, and John. You have these three and their words. No change of costume---these three virtually had nothing to work with but their chemistry with one another and their absolute superb acting abilities. The ending is rather ambiguous, and leaves you wondering exactly what DID happen.
(And as a fangirl sidenote, seeing Ethan Hawke do the "P-A-R-T-Y, party, party,")
Just watch, you won't be disappointed. |
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