34
Metascore
18 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasEthan Hawke, in his feature directorial debut, has brought Nicolette Burdette's play to the screen with fluid grace and a perfect blend of dreaminess and grit, expressed in camerawork that seems to float and in Jeff Tweedy's shimmering, gently insistent score.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMovies like this do not grab you by the throat. You have to be receptive.
- 70Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe cast is certainly impressive, and probably reason enough for seeing this.
- 63Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaPhiladelphia InquirerSteven ReaToo freewheeling for its own good, like a Robert Altman ensemble piece without a gravitational core. But Hawke's actors are a talented troupe, and even when things get self-indulgent and fuzzy-headed (and boy, do they!), interesting stuff is going on.
- 50The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenYet the movie sustains a mood. It passionately believes in itself and in the value of the messy artistic lives it glosses, and some of that belief rubs off on you.
- 42Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumThe ethos of the Chelsea Hotel may shape Hawke's artistic aspirations, but he hasn't yet coordinated his own DV poetry with the Beat he hears in his soul.
- 40TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghThe few minutes of footage devoted to a performance by bona fide jazz artist "Little" Jimmy Scott, an eccentric cult favorite, is more genuinely evocative than anything else in the film
- 30The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsWorks equally poorly as a tourist brochure and as a drama.
- 30VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthySpeak a great deal, but they don't have much to say. A dull ensembler.
- 30L.A. WeeklyMark OlsenL.A. WeeklyMark OlsenPretension, in its own way, is a form of bravery. For this reason and this reason only -- the power of its own steadfast, hoity-toity convictions -- Chelsea Walls deserves a medal.