Some Velvet Morning 2013

Sara Stewart, New York Post: An hour and a half of emotional manipulation seasoned with a dash of straight-up violence. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A sad example of what sometimes happens when a writer of gripping stage plays controls his own independent movie to his own selfish, labored self-satisfaction. Read more

Mike D'Angelo, AV Club: A second viewing of Some Velvet Morning might prove considerably more rewarding than the first, but a stronger film (or play) would work equally well on both levels. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: Well worth watching and arguing over. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Though LaBute wrote this for the screen, I mistakenly decided that it must have originated onstage... because the oblique, heavily freighted dialogue seems too elegant and artful for a medium dominated by hacks. Read more

Jordan Hoffman, Film.com: A horror film with no blood, a rough ride that kicks you in the stomach Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: I came away from this malevolent exercise with the sense that these two add up to little more than the sum of their awfulness. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: Something's not right, and anyone who's paying attention will be able to spot the signifiers easily. You may be nonplussed by the Big Reveal, though the path to it is rough. Read more

Manohla Dargis, New York Times: While there's much to admire in how Mr. Tucci and Ms. Eve perform Mr. LaBute's artful, apocalyptic duet, this is one seriously out-of-date tune. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: It represents a return to the kind of writing and filmmaking with which Neil LaBute made his name. Read more

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: With Some Velvet Morning, LaBute returns to the provocative style that made his name. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Doesn't reinvent man-vs.-woman theater, but it's a twisty and vitriolic barb-fest that should please audiences in the mood for respite from holiday cheer. Read more

Sam Adams, Time Out: The dialogue is the stuff of rapidly closing Off Broadway plays; the camerawork is flavorless and haphazard. Tucci hits every line like he's about to break into a malicious tap dance, and Eve looks as if she was handed her script on the way to the set. Read more

Chuck Wilson, Village Voice: Although the film's final twist undercuts all that has come before, Some Velvet Morning is provocation of the most artful kind. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: This smallest of films marks a welcome return to the world of interpersonal miniature for the writer-director. I hope he stays here a while. Read more