I'll be honest, I didn't think much of the film, at first. From the way that things looked in the trailer, the movie didn't seem to have a lot going for it. It looked to me like some boring stage play, dragged on for far too long by the endless chit-chat of a few unsavory characters. I really didn't think there was any point in seeing it. I thought that it was too dull and dreary looking. Clearly, I was mistaken.
This movie does have a lot of potential. It has a great cast of energetic young talent who truly shine on the silver screen. These three actors are what adds fire and depth to a talkative, but otherwise compelling script from playwright Stephen Belber.
In "Tape", Ethan Hawke plays Vince, a young man who is staying at a motel in Lansing, Michigan. In the opening scene, we find Vince waiting patiently in his motel room for John (Robert Sean Leonard), his best friend from high school, to show. John thinks that Vince has come to Lansing to see the movie that he made being showcased at a film festival there in town. But Vince has reasons all his own for arranging this little reunion between the two of them.
While John has learned to put the past behind and move on with life, Vince hasn't. Vince can't escape the fact that he's still jealous that John slept with his girlfriend Amy, after the two of them broke up. Even worse for Vince is the idea that John may have raped Amy and doesn't feel an ounce of regret for whatever he'd done to hurt her. He hopes that by getting him to admit what he did on tape, that it'll knock him off his high horse and make him want to apologize to Amy.
The dialogue between the two male characters in the beginning of the film starts off as nothing but frivolous small-talk. But once the subject of the girl is brought up, the conservation goes from the trivial chit-chat to some riveting recrimination. The climax of the film comes when John finds out that Vince has invited Amy (Uma Thurman), now an assistant district-attorney in Lansing, to come over so that his apology to her will be the hardest thing he's ever had to face.
I must say that this movie is a real treat for those who enjoy films with a lot of controversy in them. Just think of Richard Linklater's "Tape" as "12 Angry Men" meets "Two Girls And A Guy", only its better than those films were.
This movie does have a lot of potential. It has a great cast of energetic young talent who truly shine on the silver screen. These three actors are what adds fire and depth to a talkative, but otherwise compelling script from playwright Stephen Belber.
In "Tape", Ethan Hawke plays Vince, a young man who is staying at a motel in Lansing, Michigan. In the opening scene, we find Vince waiting patiently in his motel room for John (Robert Sean Leonard), his best friend from high school, to show. John thinks that Vince has come to Lansing to see the movie that he made being showcased at a film festival there in town. But Vince has reasons all his own for arranging this little reunion between the two of them.
While John has learned to put the past behind and move on with life, Vince hasn't. Vince can't escape the fact that he's still jealous that John slept with his girlfriend Amy, after the two of them broke up. Even worse for Vince is the idea that John may have raped Amy and doesn't feel an ounce of regret for whatever he'd done to hurt her. He hopes that by getting him to admit what he did on tape, that it'll knock him off his high horse and make him want to apologize to Amy.
The dialogue between the two male characters in the beginning of the film starts off as nothing but frivolous small-talk. But once the subject of the girl is brought up, the conservation goes from the trivial chit-chat to some riveting recrimination. The climax of the film comes when John finds out that Vince has invited Amy (Uma Thurman), now an assistant district-attorney in Lansing, to come over so that his apology to her will be the hardest thing he's ever had to face.
I must say that this movie is a real treat for those who enjoy films with a lot of controversy in them. Just think of Richard Linklater's "Tape" as "12 Angry Men" meets "Two Girls And A Guy", only its better than those films were.