Sundance. An American Crime.

"Not only does [Ellen Page] get to scream her head off playing innocent scapegoat Sylvia Likens, she gets to suffer at the hands of master actress Catherine Keener, playing torturer mom Gertrude Baniszewski," writes Annie Frisbie, reviewing An American Crime at Zoom In Online. "Page's performance is captivating, fresh and intelligent, and the rest of the cast lives up to her standard and that of the subtle Keener, but the story itself never quite transcends true-crime exploitation."

"Christ, what a slog," sighs Alison Willmore at the IFC Blog.

Updated through 1/27.

An "artistic nullity," growls Variety's Todd McCarthy. "Having demonstrated at best a mild talent for comedy in his earlier films, beginning with the Sundance entry Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss and followed by Get Over It and Ella Enchanted, [director Tommy] O'Haver seems clueless as to how to make something palatable and illuminating of the twisted psychology and pathological behavior at the heart of this tragic tale."

Reid Rosefelt has a video interview with O'Haver at Zoom In Online.

Earlier: Pat H Broeske spoke with O'Haver for the New York Times: "It would have been easy to take this story over the top... My mantra was 'restraint, restraint, restraint.'"

Update, 1/27: Mike D'Angelo at ScreenGrab: "No amount of good intentions can possibly justify such a vile, sadistic betrayal of the viewer's trust."

Coverage of the coverage: The Park City Index.

Posted by dwhudson at January 21, 2007 12:11 PM