Popular reviews

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  Review by Naughty aka Juli Norwood ★★½ 7

  Since I'm feeling under the weather I'm going to make this short and sweet!

  Skip it unless you absolutely positively have to see everything Phillip Seymour Hoffman ever did!

  It's a strange tale that left me scratching my head asking the 64 thousand dollar question!

  ...WHY!

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  Review by megan ★★★ 1

  i miss philip seymour hoffman

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  Review by CJ Probst ★★½

  I did no research but I hope this wasn't Hoffman's last film. He did look unhealthy though. <sigh> so sad

  Incredible cast. Inconsistent screenplay. I have no idea what they were trying for here. It seems like an incoherent mess.

  Things happen and they don't seem to have any causal flow to effect. Its just scene after scene of random babbleness. that's a word now.

  I was semi-entertained, but I ldidnt learn anything about there people and they're extremely specific niche in the world.

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  Review by Nathan Rabin ★★½

  God's Pocket is a pocket rocket of fun and adventure! The feel-good smash of the summer!

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  Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★½

  63/100

  The Dissolve review. Really surprised by how dismissively this was received at Sundance. It's wobbly, for sure, but I don't think there was a single scene, apart from the admittedly awful sex/accident cross-cutting*, in which I didn't find something to enjoy.

  * "But that trick never works!"—Rocket J. Squirrel

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  Review by Scott Anderson ★★

  Just take a quick look at the cast of God's Pocket and it's difficult to believe it could be a bad film. The late great Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Jenkins, Christina Hendricks and John Turturro, occasionally it is a treat to watch actors act regardless of the material, and at times that concept was at play here as the film never really fails on any level. The problem is, it also never really succeeds. It just sort of exists, a work to be viewed once so that you can shrug your shoulders at the end, turn on something else and quickly forget about the entire experience.

  The attempt at replicating a close knit, lower class, typically ignored community was admirable…

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  Review by feedingbrett ★★ 1

  Review In A Nutshell:

  God's Pocket is a film that takes its time in drawing the screenplay's best elements, leaving me throughout most of the first act highly bored, hoping for even the slightest elevation in drama or tension. The only aspects that kept the film watchable throughout were the music composed by Nathan Larson, and the strong performances delivered by its cast. Don't come into this film expecting something substantial to take with once it ends.

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  Review by Em ★★★★ 3

  Watched with John Slattery’s director’s commentary. Not terribly illuminating (he is very, very into describing filming locations throughout Yonkers) but he drops some fun facts about production—Phil couldn’t drive stick shift!

  This is an emotional and complicated film for obvious reasons but tbh I’m just thinking about that first scene in bed. Mickey Scarpato you’re so sexy I would treat you right <3

  Screenplay still feels inconsistent but the performances really save it. New appreciation for John Turturro and Christina Hendricks’ performances on this viewing—as Slattery says, there’s a lot of nonverbal communication in this film. She really has so few lines, it’s easier to feel sympathy for Jeanie when you tune into those silent signals. Also, the Blu-ray quality…

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  Review by Sofa Sinema ★★★½

  Character driven and actor driven and that's the reason to recommend this, beyond the obvious curiosity of it being one of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last major roles. Based on the first novel of Pete Dexter, who also wrote The Paperboy and Paris Trout, it's a heady and uncompromising portrait of small town corruption in the seventies.

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  Review by Jay D 's Watching ★★½

  Moral of the story: There are just some places better left alone, I guess.

  Two things about God's Pocket, which I'd held off on watching for a while - 1 is that it's John Slattery's directorial debut, in addition to a work he co-wrote, adapted from a novel, and it FEELS like a novel adaptation. You can see what might have drawn him to the material, there are rich characters here, and a number of shocking and memorable situations, but it also feels very much like a tentative adaptation, with scenes simply unspooling -individual set-pieces involving actors are often quite effective and strikingly staged, but don't amount to much, running into unconnected scenes and leaving an impression that the film…

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  Review by Em ★★★★ 3

  Hiiii everyone dropping in to let y’all know the Dryden Theater in PSH’s hometown is screening God’s Pocket later this month! AND they’re hosting a Q&A with director John Slattery, who also worked with Phil on Charlie Wilson’s War!

  The Dryden and Phil’s family are currently collecting questions to ask John about the movie and working with Phil, etc! Y’all are my film people so if you have any questions for him please let me know and I’ll pass em along, or you can submit them yourself on Facebook! I’m looking into whether the Q&A will be available later for those of us who can’t make it to Rochester :)

  Great opportunity pls send questions <3

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  Review by Matt ★★½

  An odd little movie that doesn't feel like much despite a very strong cast and early catalytic moment that's prescient of several 'holy crap!' parts later on. It's definitely not dreadful or anything but by the time the film was spelling out its observations on blue-collar culture it was a bit too late.

  Worth a watch for the performers, including one of the final turns from one of the greats. Every time I see a Philip Seymour Hoffman performance I can't help but wonder what he'd be working on now and what he'd make of the business he gave so much to.