| Original Score: 4/5 | Dec 30, 2006

Eden, who holds the film together by his winning presence and doughty performance, effectively conveys the effect of severe challenges that no child should ever have to face.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 6, 2005

Although there is nothing really new here, an honest sense of humanity wins out.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Sep 23, 2005

Parker and Harry Eden, the boy who plays her precocious-by-necessity son, elevate Pure from a tedious cautionary tale to a wrenching drama.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 5, 2005

Molly Parker is an extraordinary actress of the ordinary.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 7, 2005

It's a good film that really knows its subject.

Full Review | Jun 20, 2005

Pure is made in the fine old miserabilist tradition of Mike Leigh and Ken Loach, but MacKinnon has a rare way with children and a poetic eye for even the drabbest inner-city habitats.

Full Review | Jun 16, 2005

Director Gillies MacKinnon (Hideous Kinky) forges a very wrenching and believable bond between Parker and Eden.

| Original Score: B | Jun 1, 2005

Though compellingly acted, Pure's spit and polished kitchen-sink realism exudes a disconcertingly cheery affection for the lives of its characters.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 9, 2005

The film belongs to Eden, who creates a winning personality out of a combination of vulnerability, resourcefulness, toughness and fragility. It's an outstanding juvenile performance.

Full Review | Apr 8, 2005

The conclusion undermines a thoughtful treatment of a serious subject, tilting the enterprise towards triteness and sentimentality.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 13, 2003