Harvard Man (2001)
Critic Reviews
|
80
|
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
In a summer of clones, Harvard Man is something rare and riveting: a wild ride that relies on more than special effects.
|
|
75
|
Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
How can one man juggle two women, possible expulsion, Mafia baseball bats and the meaning of life, while on acid? This is the kind of question only a Toback film thinks to ask, let alone answer.
|
|
75
|
San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
Adams sparkles with quick-mindedness and verbal agility. This is a worthy and underused talent.
|
|
75
|
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
The first half of this freewheeling comedy-drama finds Toback at his imaginative best. The second half sinks into silliness.
|
|
70
|
The New York Times Dana Stevens
Mr. Toback uses his improbable, conventional story as the trelliswork for a series of wild and florid riffs about sex, ethics and the delirium of renegade moviemaking.
|
|
50
|
New Times (L.A.) Andy Klein
Toback has taken a distinctly '60s-ish personal experience and done his best to transplant it into the current, vastly different, cultural milieu. Harvard Man is a semi-throwback, a reminiscence without nostalgia or sentimentality.
|
|
50
|
Chicago Reader
The film suffers from clunky smart-aleck dialogue and an overabundance of jump cuts and crane shots, and despite its libertine air, Toback repeatedly cautions that acid is a fast track to insanity, especially in combination with Heidegger and Wittgenstein.
|
|
50
|
New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Sillier than it is clever, and Toback's self-indulgence is tiresome. He's a genuine auteur, all right, but his life and the funky tastes that inspire him are just not as interesting as he thinks they are.
|
|
40
|
Salon Stephanie Zacharek
Sure, sex and drugs can take you to a higher plane. But not if a movie crushes your will to live first.
|
|
40
|
Village Voice Michael Atkinson
Obsessives can be seductive, and Toback is interesting for the same reasons his films are often unendurable: He's not an artist so much as a giant pop-cult testicle pumping absurd energy in a rampaging, self-justifying gout.
|
More Critic Reviews
See all external reviews for Harvard Man (2001) »See also
Awards | FAQ | User Reviews | User Ratings | External Reviews
