Tape (2001)

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Tape is a good "movie in a single location" movie which focuses on dialogue to hold our sway. It's filmed in real time and the acting is solid from all involved- Ethan Hawke especially. Many critics have compared it to a play and it feels so. Richard Linklater is both an auteur and a risk taker- similar to Steven Soderberg and this is another film where he showcases his talent.

I don't understand all of the negative reviews users have given this hidden gem. This film was great! I was thoroughly entertained by "Tape" and the movie kept my attention the whole way through. The three characters presented in this film all have a purpose and compose themselves in a manner that provides an insight to the type of person they really are. Hawke, Leonard, and Thurman are the ones to thank for this as they all brought their A game. If you get the chance, give this movie a watch!

I remember when this film came out, I was curious because Linklater is an interesting director, even though I'm not crazy about most of his work. When I saw the lukewarm reviews, I forgot about it. I'm glad I decided to finally give it a shot. A real-time drama unfolding in a motel room (it's no surprise to learn that it was based on a play), the film explores a lot of compelling ethical ground, and gripped me despite its simplicity. The moral high ground keeps shifting between the three characters and the film takes a strong premise to surprising places. I thought the performances by Uma Thurman and Robert Sean Leonard were quite good... not great, but very good. While Hawke's character is believable, he seems to be laying it on a little thick. Not scenery-chewing exactly, just a little overboard. I also thought Linklater's decision to film the whole thing with fuzzy hand-held camera was a rather pointless choice. I can come up with all kinds of justifications for it, but ultimately it was distracting. However, the script is so strong and thought-provoking that it's not a major detriment.

In its sort this is simply a good movie. Still not really my cup of tea though, I'll admit.This movie is like a filmed stage-play. It's set at only one location and the entire movie only features 3 characters in it. This of course means that the movie gets entirely driven by its characters and dialog. It's a small and independent movie, that nevertheless still had some big name actors involved with it.Movies like this, that are basically just filmed stage-plays, don't work out much normally. It's not really hard to see why. The movies are slow and they tend to drag with its overlong dialog. Besides there are very little things you can do, movie technically-wise, with a story that is set at only one location. You can tell that the director tried to make the movie more dynamic and lively by putting in some unusual camera-work that however to me only worked out annoying and distracting, as often would be the case with an independent movie that's all too aware of itself.This movie also does really start offs slow and also sort of uninteresting. At first it seems nice how these characters are talking and interacting with each other, which seems realistic at all but it also gets tiresome pretty fast, also since the dialog is basically going nowhere. I don't think I have ever heard the word 'why?' uttered so much in a movie. Nevertheless, once the movie gets over its slow point and the whole point of the movie its story starts to become more obvious, the movie itself becomes a far more interesting and also really better one to watch. The story does not disappoint, even though it of course is all being kept very small and simple. It's simply an effective movie at what it tries to be- and to achieve with it.A good movie within its sort.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/