Boston's Alternative Source! image!
     
Feedback


[Short Reviews]

TAPE

Adapted from the Stephen Belber play by Richard Linklater, Tape is not much more than a claustrophobic actor’s exercise, but it might be just the kind that the usually anemic Ethan Hawke could use. No more the vapid nice guy (even in Hamlet), he’s Vince, a Jockey-briefs-wearing beer-swigging dope-dealing asshole. At times he even turns into Kevin Bacon. Vince is hosting high-school pal Johnny (Robert Sean Leonard), a supercilious indie filmmaker (here we go with the self-reflexivity) who’s premiering his first feature at the Lansing Film Festival, and he takes the opportunity to confront his friend about a possible date rape Johnny committed 10 years ago against fellow classmate Amy (Uma Thurman), Vince’s first crush and now a local assistant district attorney. Belber’s play is minor-league Edward Albee, a gradual unveiling of deceptions with some zingers in the dialogue (mostly from Hawke) but ultimately a gimmick — it’s 85 minutes spent locked in a fetid motel room with unpleasant people and no punch line.

BY PETER KEOUGH

Issue Date: November 15 - 22, 2001

Back to the Movies table of contents.