Underneath the harshness and the severity there is a thick, spongey layer of pure Hollywood schmaltz, and the movie runs on predictable lines.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 18, 2008

The acting is excellent.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 28, 2008

So relentlessly oppressive it suffocates its potentially strong themes and characterizations.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Apr 25, 2008

It's part Jerry Lee Lewis and part Glenn Gould.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Apr 18, 2008

A women-behind-bars plot seething with lesbianism, incest, hanging and catfights -- on paper, at least, Four Minutes promises more fun than a Roger Corman marathon.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 18, 2008

Pitched at deafening hysteria, Chris Kraus's film might have fared better in moderato.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/6 | Apr 17, 2008

Though not to be confused with Madonna's new single, Four Minutes is similarly built from clich.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Apr 16, 2008

Four Minutes is simply not to be missed.

Full Review | Apr 16, 2008

Although the tone of the film drifts precariously toward the self-serious, writer/director Chris Kraus redeems himself with snatches of dark jailhouse humor and a quiet attentiveness to minute gradations of human feeling.

| Apr 16, 2008

Unfortunately, after almost two hours the gloom becomes monotonous and the one-dimensional characters wear out their welcome.

Full Review | May 24, 2007

By dint of strong perfs (especially from relative newcomer Hannah Herzsprung) and powerful use of music, the pic works in spite of itself.

Full Review | Sep 22, 2006