Fierce People 2007

Tasha Robinson, Chicago Tribune: The idea that rich people are an alien tribe is just one of many that get lost in Wittenborn's distracted script. Read more

Joshua Katzman, Chicago Reader: Director Griffin Dunne, working from Dirk Wittenborn's adaptation of his own novel, pounds away at the analogy between the inherent cruelty of the tribal rituals of the Iskanani and those of the well-heeled. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Rarely has self-pity become so monotonous so quickly. Read more

Jennifer Preyss, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: On balance, it's a movie worth seeing with its artistic inserts, appropriate soundtrack and organic performances. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Dunne's messy, unpredictable, yet weirdly vital movie veers from one extreme to another without finding a consistent tone, but Sutherland never strikes a wrong note. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: The film is way too banal to raise any questions of its own. [Director] Dunne, for his part, doesn't conjure up any kind of inspired visual atmosphere or compelling psychological tension. Nothing is as funny, touching, true, or sad as it should be. Read more

Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle: A buoyant coming-of-age adventure welded to an amiable wealth fantasy. Read more

Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly: It's possible, I suppose, that Dunne and Wittenborn were so intent on excoriating the well-to-do that they conceived of this entire movie as an act of self-flagellation. In which case, they should rest assured that no one stands to make a dime from it. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: A textbook example of the hazards of hiring a writer to adapt his own novel. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: The last act promises some very dark and primitive acts -- not that you should care. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: Director Griffin Dunne's adaptation of Dirk Wittenborn's fiercely personal novel ambles pleasantly through coming-of-age movie territory, then takes a jarring Agatha Christie detour. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Overall, it's an enjoyable effort, but not a positive triumph. Read more

Steven Winn, San Francisco Chronicle: There are lots of potent things floating around in it -- sexual initiation, drugs, fantasy-land wealth, brute violence, primitive rituals, Diane Lane and Donald Sutherland -- but the mix just sits there without producing any notable reactions. Read more

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: After a promising start, Griffin Dunne's film bogs down and simply turns into a predictable mish-mash of a movie that is shrill and heavy-handed and totally trite. Read more

Tom Beer, Time Out: Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Fierce People is based on a forced premise: the idea that a family of super-rich New Jersey eccentrics is like a tribe to be studied anthropologically. None of the characters resembles any creature you'd discover in nature, however. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Overplotting and a particularly ugly turn make this adaptation of Dirk Wittenborn's novel less a meditation on how the rich are different than a bland coming-of-age procedural. Read more