The performances are strong (my favorite is that of Deborah Harry as an older waitress) and the sense of eroded as well as barely articulated lives is palpable.

| Jun 14, 2022

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 24, 2007

A small, quiet miracle of a movie in which tenderness, compassion and insight combine to create a tension that yields a quality of perception that's almost painful to experience.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 14, 2001

You've been in places like this. You linger over a second cup of coffee and people-watch, trying to guess the secrets of the sad-eyed waitress and the drunk at the bar and the pizza cook who looks like he's serving a sentence.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 1, 2000

Even at 80 minutes, Heavy would have been weighted with redundancies. So you can imagine what happened on the way to making it 105 minutes long.

Full Review | Jan 1, 2000

Mangold's sympathy is genuine and his refusal to mock or condescend to his characters -- indeed, that may be the point of the film -- is a pleasure.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000

The performances are all exquisitely drawn portraits, restrained (even Shelley Winters) and gentle.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2000

Even the film's chanciest moments sustain an overall poignancy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 1, 2000