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Jindabyne Review

Movies.com Critics

3.0

Dave White Profile

… kind of a slog … Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

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

  • 4.0
    65

    out of 100

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

  • 50

    out of 100

    USA Today Claudia Puig

    Has some strong acting. But largely because of its glacial pacing, the story ends up feeling too detached to move us as it should.

    Read Full Review

  • 50

    out of 100

    Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

    Jindabyne started with a bad idea and the finished film doesn't do well by it.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    The New York Times A.O. Scott

    The real flaw is that the movie's best features -- the aching clarity of its central performances -- threaten to be lost in a wilderness of metaphor and mystification.

    Read Full Review

  • 70

    out of 100

    Variety Robert Koehler

    Never obtains the full impact of its potentially powerful inner core.

    Read Full Review

  • 75

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

    Jindabyne -- named for the lakeside town in which the troubles spill -- can't contain all that the filmmakers want to throw in. Best to keep glued to the taut performance by Laura Linney.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

    Jindabyne's strength and power come from a number of factors: its origin, its current landscape and the unusual way its writer-director, Ray Lawrence, has chosen to work.

    Read Full Review

  • 80

    out of 100

    The Hollywood Reporter

    The same organic characterizations that marked Lawrence's acclaimed 2001 film "Lantana" will attract fans of strong adult drama.

    Read Full Review

  • See all Jindabyne reviews at Metacritic.com

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For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 15+

Intense relationship drama for adults only.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this short story-based film is a bleak study of human cruelty in the form of emotional sabotage and actual murder. There are many violent episodes -- from the opening sequence in which a serial killer stalks his prey to a scene in which two children kill a pet to an emotionally jarring exchange in which a husband and wife fight each other with words and fists. Racism also rears its nasty head, and there are disturbing close-ups of a murdered woman. Characters drink, smoke, and swear.

  • Families can talk about how the media can vilify or anoint someone because of their choices. In some cases -- like the one presented in this movie, in which four men ignore a dead body until their vacation is done -- is it justified? If so, why? Does the film explain why the men decide to do what they did? Does it make sense? Is the reaction they get from their families understandable or outrageous? How do such moments bring some people closer and tear others apart?

The good stuff
  • message true0

    Messages: Disturbing moments include a child nearly causing a playmate to drown; physical abuse between spouses (a man and woman attack each other verbally and with their arms and fists in a discomfortingly realistic fight); crimes such as tampering with evidence; racial conflict.

What to watch for
  • violence false5

    Violence: Lots of it, and in all forms -- from verbal abuse to outright murder. A serial killer hunts down women and unceremoniously dumps a partially naked body into a lake. Also, children kill a pet, intending to use it for sacrifice. A man punches his pal on the nose and breaks it. One of the children keeps a dead bird that she presumably also killed.

  • sex false3

    Sex: A husband and wife have sex (though there's no nudity). Some talk of sex. A partially naked corpse.

  • language false3

    Language: Occasional use of everything from "damn" to "holy s--t" to "f--k."

  • consumerism false0

    Consumerism: Some product placement in the gas station, but nothing easily identifiable.

  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3

    Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of alcohol. The four men guzzle beer on their fishing trip and at a party beforehand. Some shots of characters smoking.

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: 2.623
Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango
5

what were you thinking by gbv
the minute you sympathize with the judgment of one of the characters another character makes you wonder what what where you thinking. This is a tough and insightful movie - shows how hard it is to articulate feelings when you don't know what your feeling are - and how the lack of trying screws things up. The acting was amazing. Well written and directed. See this move before it goes away. Not going to be a pop hit.

3

by disneyfreak

Read all Jindabyne reviews at Fandango
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