Digitally filmed on a shoestring budget, "The Reception" is an ugly-looking movie occupied by artificial characters going through the motions of familial unrest and gay attraction.

| Original Score: D- | Apr 16, 2009

Casting, acting, pacing and storytelling are all expertly done and the film technically is an eye-pleaser.

| Mar 1, 2007

...a rewarding and engaging 75-minute chamber piece.

Full Review | Dec 15, 2005

...in feeling like we've been cheated out of fuller characters, "The Reception" doesn't make its intended impact.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 25, 2005

We're cold on this Reception.

| Original Score: D | Oct 7, 2005

Handsome and perceptive, The Reception serves as a reminder that it is possible to make a polished, worldly and witty adult entertainment on a modest budget.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 6, 2005

It's fine stuff, beautifully played, but there's no denying that viewers will have to be patient with this 80-minute chamber piece.

| Sep 29, 2005

Isn't much more than a high-toned soap opera, but it's a relatively sophisticated and occasionally affecting one.

| Original Score: B- | Aug 22, 2005

Never maudlin.

| Original Score: B+ | Aug 20, 2005

The dialog and the performances are smarter than your typical soap opera, but this earns a lukewarm reception from me.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 19, 2005

there's no mistaking the script's irksome thinness

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 8, 2005

[P]uts the greatest emphasis and care into the one aspect that no budget in the megamillions could have fixed: the script....

| Jul 20, 2005

The film presents its lofty goals as transparently as its publicity materials, its clunky dialogue and diminished production value adding to its inordinate lack of sophistication.

| Original Score: 1/5 | Jul 18, 2005

[The] subtle, complex performances could put far more experienced and better-known actors to shame.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jul 15, 2005

With its direct and nuanced treatment of the complexities of racial prejudice, sexual orientation and addiction, The Reception is a quietly ambitious and memorable film.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jul 15, 2005

Well-acted but otherwise lackluster drama.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jul 15, 2005

Filmed in the wintry Catskills and bathed in white light, The Reception may be the best looking American film shot on digital video.

| Original Score: '2.75/5' | Jul 15, 2005

Terrifically acted and beautifully shot on digital video...The Reception is in many ways quite an indie accomplishment.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 15, 2005

A fresh and uncompromising account of emotional self- immolation and romantic flux. And it has a happy ending to boot.

| Jul 12, 2005

Young's small-scale, effortlessly cosmopolitan grasp of marginal lifestyles and alternative sexuality is comforting by dint of its occasional clumsiness.

| Jul 12, 2005