It is frustrating to watch the film blow some respectable capital on indulgence in narrative frippery.
Comment
02/09/07
The Architect (2006)
11
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:35
Fresh:4
Rotten:31
Average Rating:4.1/10
Consensus: A glum drama that's so self-affected it fails to affect.
Synopsis: Based on a play by David Greig, THE ARCHITECT stirs together issues of class, race, sexuality, and architecture, then heats up to create potent sociological drama. Anthony LaPaglia stars as Leo, a... [More]
Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Viola Davis, Isabella Rossellini, Hayden Panettiere
Director: Matt Tauber
Reviews for The Architect
In my opinion, the film tries to cover too much ground. The plot strands don't exactly coalesce into a tight story. Perhaps that was [the director's] intent, but for me something was missing. The cast does yeoman work but I somehow couldn't exactly get ca
01/11/07
When Tauber finds his focus, The Architect is worth watching. But Tauber rarely finds his focus.
01/04/07
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12/30/06
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12/30/06
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12/30/06
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12/30/06
What makes the movie satisfying is the fact that its ethnic tensions are never overtly exacerbated, but rather subtly illustrated simply by the comparison of the decadent malaise of the spoiled-rotten versus the neverending nightmare of the have-nots.
12/26/06
Despite his obvious earnestness, first-time director and cowriter Matt Tauber is ill equipped to mine emotions this complex.
12/15/06
Too many "big" moments are happening to too many people for the movie to feel plausible, and Tauber tries to tie many of those plots together in a way that seems contrived.
12/15/06
Occasionally a pallid film is salvaged by one wonderful performance. To the extent The Architect will be remembered, it will be for giving a starring role to the exceptional Viola Davis.
12/14/06
Given the fact that The Architect is obviously a work in the tradition of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, not to mention Henrik Ibsen, it's disappointing.
12/14/06
The movie doesn't so much tell a story as scream its messages at us in a series of awkward scenes that test the actors' ability to make fake-o dialogue seem like something an actual person might say.
12/14/06
I am sick to death of taking the White Guilt Trip.
12/12/06
The Architect wears its heavy social consciousness like an albatross, and Tauber's plodding, earnest direction does little to wean the material away from its stage roots.
12/08/06
Painfully portentous and more solemn than Santa's funeral, The Architect gets this year's prize for the movie most likely to spoil holiday cheer.
12/08/06
Despite graphic scenes of drug- and crime-infested buildings where people are forced to live behind bars like prisoners, The Architect still feels stagebound, inert when it needs to be cinematic.
12/08/06
...A grim little exercise in exorcising middle-class guilt.
12/08/06
Top CriticSkids mightily in the transition from three to two dimensions.
12/07/06
... The Architect is filled with ciphers and symbols, without a smidgen of narrative reason to hold it together.
12/07/06
Latest News for The Architect
December 05, 2006:
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In making "The Queen," Stephen Frears has directed one of the most critically acclaimed films of the year, and made $49 million in global box office returns to boot.... More...
November 30, 2006:
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