The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Smithereens
Drama · Music · Romance · 1982
A narcissistic runaway engages in a number of parasitic relationships amongst members of New York's waning punk scene.
Movie details
Smithereens
“She was a legend in her own mind.”
1982 Drama · Music · Romance 1h 34m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.4 / 10
Community rating
A narcissistic runaway engages in a number of parasitic relationships amongst members of New York's waning punk scene.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Smithereens?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Cool Ironist
“Feeling things is a little embarrassing.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
Groove
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Coda
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A famous pianist at the twilight of his career meets a free-spirited music critic who soon becomes his rock as his mental state deteriorates.
A Star Is Born
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Has-been singing idol John Norman Howard falls in love with young, up-and-coming songstress Esther Hoffman in Frank Pierson's version of the classic love story updated to the rock and roll era.
G
Drama · 2002
A young Hip Hop star named Summer G falls for a middle to upper class sister while in college. After she rejects him for a fellow social climber, Summer G spends ten years building a Hip Hop empire, then moves to the Hamptons where he finds the object of his affections.
CBGB
Drama · 2013
A look at New York's dynamic punk rock scene through the lens of the ground-breaking Lower East Side club started by eccentric Hilly Kristal in 1973 which launched thousands of bands.
Untamed Heart
Drama · 1993
Caroline, a young waitress who seems to have bad taste in men, is on her way home one night when thugs attempt to rape her. Adam, the mysterious busboy who works at the same diner, helps fight off the assailants, and she begins a relationship with him -- but not all their fellow Minnesotans are happy for them. Meanwhile, the couple face their own difficulties when Caroline finds about Adam's past, including his unique health condition.
Times Square
Drama · 1980
When a 13-year-old girl befriends a defiant antisocial child of the streets, the mismatched runaways set off to the Big Apple to find their own adventure.
Hounddog
Drama · 2008
A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Endless
Romance · 2020
When madly in love high school graduates Riley and Chris are separated by a tragic car accident, Riley blames herself for her boyfriend's death while Chris is stranded in limbo. Miraculously, the two find a way to connect. In a love story that transcends life and death, both Riley and Chris are forced to learn the hardest lesson of all: letting go.
Where it lives
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Susan Seidelman
Written by
Ron Nyswaner · Susan Seidelman · Peter Askin
Susan Berman
Wren
Brad Rijn
Paul
Richard Hell
Eric
Nada Despotovich
Cecile
R
Roger Jett
Billy (Eric's Roommate)
K
Kitty Summerall
Eric's Wife
J
Joni Ruth White
Landlady
Court is in session
Put Smithereens on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Cool Ironist
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.