Review of Tape (2001) by Rhady N — 19 Apr 2010
A powerful drama that explores the perceptions of three friends from high school revisiting a traumatic event from their past, ten years later. The action all takes place in a small, dingy motel room. Although to call it action is being generous.
Almost completely dialog driven, there is little action to speak of. The acting is terrific. Ethan Hawke is Vince and the catalyst for painful revelations from Jon, his best bud from high school, played by Robert Sean Leonard.
Uma Thurman plays Amy, the girl that came between them. The camera work was a bit disconcerting as it would alternate between hand held and steady cam and at times the dialog between two characters resembled a ping pong match, panning back and forth without cuts.
But the intimacy of those camera shots in that small room engendered a claustrophobic effect that served to ratchet up the tension. After all is said and done, we are still not sure what really happened in high school.
But these three can no longer be called friends. The pieces no longer fit.
This review of Tape (2001) was written by Rhady N on 19 Apr 2010.
Tape has generally received positive reviews.
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