Undertow 2004

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Undertow, which is well worth seeing for the performances by Bell and Lucas, is obviously a transitional film, but where Green wants to go remains unclear. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: Seething with violence, bleeding with lyricism, it's a poem from the junk heap, a cry from the swamp, another night for another hunter. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Though at times tough going because of its violence and seeming hopelessness, the film has a genuine emotional pull. Read more

Carla Meyer, San Francisco Chronicle: The movie was monkeyed with too much in postproduction. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Green has an uncanny ability to use his camera to almost sneak up on his subjects in a way that makes us feel we've dropped right into the middle of their lives. Read more

Steve Murray, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The film's first half is hypnotically watchable. Read more

Kathy Cano Murillo, Arizona Republic: One non-threatening Undertow. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: A thriller that has no interest in thrills. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: A movie that doesn't add up to the sum of its parts, yet some of those parts connect deeply anyway. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: From its opening lines and first enigmatic image, everything about Undertow is both dreamlike and real, artfully elusive and matter-of-fact. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Green's new film opens with a sequence that's at once visceral and baffling. Read more

Chris Vognar, Dallas Morning News: A taut piece of Southern Gothic from Richardson native David Gordon Green. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: No amount of still photography, lyrical scene setting or Green's undeniable skill at working with actors can make up for the adolescent, boys'-adventure-story motivations that drive these paper-thin characters to bogus acts of desperation. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: A satisfying, bewitching gumbo. Read more

John Anderson, Newsday: Hamstrung by a feeling that its director was striving for oddity, purely for oddity's sake. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: There's no arguing the revelation of Bell's performance. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Bell's performance as a teenager becoming a man in midflight pulls us through this murky, slow-paced affair, but it's a slog. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: A real Gothic page-turner in the William Faulkner tradition. Read more

Megan Lehmann, New York Post: Undertow conforms to many of the tropes of a formula thriller but, aided by an evocative Philip Glass score and Tim Orr's beautifully naturalistic cinematography, it transcends the genre. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: The young director David Gordon Green's first film with a conventional plot is a moody gothic thriller drenched in myth and superstition. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Green is all surface and no depth in his effort to channel the late novelist William Faulkner. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Those going to Undertow expecting a thriller will find the proceedings slow going. However, those who are seduced by the characters and the setting will find that the 105 minutes pass quickly. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Green has a visual style that is beautiful without being pretty. We never catch him photographing anything for its scenic or decorative effect. Read more

David Wiegand, San Francisco Chronicle: Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: There's certainly nothing wrong with trying to make a movie visually pleasing, but it shouldn't come until after there's a good plot and intriguing characters. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: A thriller in dire need of thrills. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: 'Southern Gothic' and 'arthouse' are rarely used to describe the same movie, and Undertow is a prime example of why that is. Read more

Ben Walters, Time Out: Green's signature pastoral tangents and codeine pacing don't slow down this tale of two boys fleeing their psychotic uncle so much as inappropriately slacken any of the story's suspenseful aspects. Read more

Scott Foundas, Variety: A deep-fried piece of Southern Gothic that wears its unpleasantness like a merit badge... Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: It's surprisingly visceral-at times almost thrilling. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Unevenly torn between its would-be poetry and its melodramatic narrative. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: The suspense first-rate. Read more