Pssst, want to check out Tape in our new look?
Information
- Year
- 2001
- Runtime
- 86 min.
- Director
- Richard Linklater
- Genre
- Drama
- Rating *
- 7.3
- Votes *
- 13,490
- Checks
- 1,174
- Favs
- 99
- Dislikes
- 14
- Favs/checks
- 8.4% (1:12)
- Favs/dislikes
- 7:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Richard Linklater's 2001 staging of the 1999 play Tape is a tight little two-then-three-hander, set in a single motel room, and shot on cheap video tape. More than a pun, it gives the piece a kind of vérité look and a documentary energy that makes it all a bit too real even though we recognize all the actors. Dead Poets Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard are reunited as old friends who haven't seen each other in a while, but Hawke's character has a personal agenda to make his old judgmental pal admit to wrong-doing when they were in high school. Who the villain of the play is twists in those moments, moving Tape from talky naturalism to psychological thriller. Uma Thurman shows up in the third act as the once-object of both their desires and absolutely refuses to be part of their narrative and defying all their (and our) expectations. She absolutely kills it. There's no doubt as you're watching that this is sourced from a play, but a play doesn't get you so tightly in the characters' spaces, and what results is a powerful piece that'll make you think, cheer, and squirm. 1 year 10 months ago -
MM
No comments? This was a fantastic film, one of my favourites, a brilliant little drama set in one room with 3 characters, a lot of tension. I'd love to see this performed on a stage as it felt so much like a play, reminiscent of An Inspector Calls in a way as well. 12 years 9 months ago