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CAST & CREW
Summer Phoenix, Ian Holm, Fabrice Desplechin
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin
more...
SYNOPSIS
Summer Phoenix plays a young woman experiencing a crushing and belated coming of age in the Arnaud Desplechin's psychological period film, ESTHER KAHN. more...
MPAA RATING
Not Rated
RUNTIME
2 hours, 22 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Mar 1, 2002
Video: Nov 19, 2002
RELEASE COMPANY
Empire Pictures
GENRE
Dramas, Coming Of Age, Drama, Drama (General), Actors
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TIDBITS
SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "An ambitious, serious film that manages to do virtually everything wrong; sitting through it is something akin to an act of cinematic penance."
-- Frank Swietek, ONE GUY'S OPINION
 "It's a strange film, one that was hard for me to warm up to."
-- Dennis Schwartz, OZUS' WORLD MOVIE REVIEWS
"Like its title character, Esther Kahn is unusual but unfortunately also irritating."
-- Ed Scheid, BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE
"The biggest problem I have (other than the very sluggish pace) is we never really see her Esther blossom as an actress, even though her talent is supposed to be growing."
-- Jon Popick, PLANET SICK-BOY
"A well-done film of a self-reflexive, philosophical nature."
-- Jon Lap, APOLLO GUIDE
"A particularly joyless, and exceedingly dull, period coming-of-age tale."
-- Danny Graydon, BBCI FILMS
"Beautifully produced."
-- David Ehrenstein, NEW TIMES
"if you are an actor who can relate to the search for inner peace by dramatically depicting the lives of others onstage, then Esther's story is a compelling quest for truth."
-- Athan Bezaitis, FILMCRITIC.COM
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ROTTEN 25%
Avg. Rating: 4.3/10 |
"The French director has turned out nearly 21/2 hours of unfocused, excruciatingly tedious cinema that, half an hour in, starts making water torture seem appealing."
-- Megan Turner, NEW YORK POST
"What makes Esther Kahn so demanding is that it progresses in such a low-key manner that it risks monotony. But it's worth the concentration."
-- Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"The narrator and the other characters try to convince us that acting transfigures Esther, but she's never seen speaking on stage; one feels cheated, and Esther seems to remain an unchanged dullard."
-- Rasmi Simhan, DALLAS MORNING NEWS
"It's a lot to ask people to sit still for two hours and change watching such a character, especially when rendered in as flat and impassive a manner as Phoenix's."
-- Gene Seymour, NEWSDAY
"The problem is that rather than dramatizing this premise, Mr. Desplechin is content to state it."
-- A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES
"Ms. Phoenix is completely lacking in charm and charisma, and is unable to project either Esther’s initial anomie or her eventual awakening."
-- Andrew Sarris, NEW YORK OBSERVER
"Confounding because it solemnly advances a daringly preposterous thesis. Acting cannot be acted."
-- J. Hoberman, VILLAGE VOICE
"The good stuff gets suffocated under the self-indulgent pace and needless length."
-- HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Esther Kahn" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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