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On DVD: Jul. 23, 2013 | On Blu-ray: TBD
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Ginger & Rosa Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    70

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 40

    out of 100

    Variety Peter Debruge

    Potter seems at a loss to communicate the ideas behind her agonizingly elliptical picture, leaving auds to marvel at the gorgeous cinematography and scarlet-red hair of its heroine, earnestly played by Elle Fanning in a project undeserving of her talents.

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  • 60

    out of 100

    Village Voice Melissa Anderson

    In its closing minutes Potter restores the calmer observational tone and mood that distinguish much of Ginger & Rosa, providing a lovely summation of its main character's age-appropriate contradictions.

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  • 70

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    Ms. Englert's performance isn't as interesting as it might have been if the writing hadn't favored Ginger. But Ms. Fanning, a young actress of seemingly unerring instincts, is a wonder.

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  • 70

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter Todd McCarthy

    The film’s small scale is more than compensated for by its insights into adolescent awareness, the passions stoked by global causes and the moral hypocrisy of the ideologically righteous.

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  • 75

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    It's a portrait of a time and place, characters keeping company around a simple kitchen table, and the helplessness adolescents feel when faced with the priorities of those in power. What I'll take away from it is the knowledge that now the Fannings have given us two actresses of such potential.

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  • 83

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly

    A touching drama from British art-house filmmaker Sally Potter, who broke through to wider audiences with 1992's "Orlando" and has now made her most mainstream movie yet.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Ginger & Rosa reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

OK for kids 15+

Coming-of-age drama examines teenage anxieties.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Ginger & Rosa -- a coming-of-age drama set in the early 1960s -- is at times bleak and intense, with material that may be too overwhelming for younger teens and tweens. There's infidelity, parental abandonment, a relationship between a much older man and a girl young enough to be his daughter, depression, alienation -- all set against the backdrop of the early ban-the-bomb movement and the concurrent fear of nuclear devastation. Expect infrequent language (including "f--k" and "bitch") and some scenes in which a teen girl flirts with an older man and he returns her attentions (at one point moaning is heard from their room). There are also loud fights between a couple, a scene in which teen girls prepare to practice kissing (on each other), plenty of era-accurate smoking, and some underage drinking.

  • Families can talk about Ginger and Rosa's friendship: Is it healthy? Equal? Supportive? How does it compare to other movie friendships you've seen?
  • Are Ginger's parents supportive and nurturing? Is she better off with them in her life or not? Do they seem like realistic characters?
  • Talk to your kids about the '60s and what it may have been like growing up under constant fear of the bomb. How does that shape what the characters do and how they behave?

The good stuff
  • message true1

    Messages: The world can be bleak in this film, especially for Ginger, but her innate resilience -- and talent for poetry -- help her come through it. Themes include infidelity, parental abandonment, depression, alienation, and betraying a friendship.

  • rolemodels true0

    Role models: The teen characters don't seem to have too many grown-ups who mentor them. But Bella teaches Ginger to stand up for what she believes in, and her parents do care for her to a degree. Other adults take advantage of the teens; in one case, a man old enough to be one's father has a romantic relationship with her.

What to watch for
  • violence false2

    Violence: A woman slaps a teen. In another scene, protestors are hauled off by cops, a few of them forcefully. Some loud verbal arguments. The film is set in the early 1960s, and there's a pervasive fear of nuclear annihilation. Radio reports and TV newscasts obsess about it, and some clips show the bomb blowing up Hiroshima. 

  • sex false3

    Sex: Some kissing and groping, mostly in the dark. A father figure seduces a teenager, who's fascinated by him. Another teenager hears them moaning. Some allusions to a married man's infidelity. Two girls are shown about to practice kissing.

  • language false3

    Language: Infrequent use of words including "bitch" and "f--k."

  • consumerism false0

    Consumerism: Not an issue

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Plenty of period-accurate smoking, including among teenagers. Also, underage drinking (an of-age young man buys a teen a half-pint of beer).

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

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Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 3.848
Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango
5

Ginger and Rosa by sshoward
Just saw Ginger and Rosa. If this film hadn't been under the radar, Elle Fanning would undoubtedly have been rewarded with an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, giving a performance which is now receiving universal critical acclaim. Her performance alone makes this a must see film.

5

ginger and rosa by steplin36
A slow beginning but then you are fully aware what is happening and really get i8nto this story,it was very well done and would recommend it.

3

GInger and Rosa by Peneflix
1962: Samoa granted independence from New Zealand, John Glenn is the first American to orbit earth, Jackie Kennedy gives a televised tour of the White House, Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro; ?Escape from Alcatraz? a film starring Clint Eastwood based upon the U.S.-British nuclear test in Nevada; historically, the most monumental, colossal event: the Cuban Missile Crisis, the catastrophic threat of total annihilation. ?Ginger? and ?Rosa? at seventeen, living in London are political activists, shriveling in dysfunctional homes, born on the same day in 1945. A thought- provoking ?coming of age? tale written and directed by Sally Potter; more powerful than the action, which at times is plodding, are the mulling, struggling formulas being conjured in their fertile, unsowed minds... THREE STARS!!! ***For full review please visit peneflix (dot) com!!!

Read all Ginger & Rosa reviews at Fandango
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