Beeswax 2009

A.O. Scott, New York Times: At first glance a modest, ragged slice of contemporary life, turns out to be a remarkably subtle, even elegant movie. Its leisurely scenes and hesitant, circling conversations conceal both an ingenious comic structure and a rich emotional subtext. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Bujalski's funny, diverting character piece has a lived-in quality that's no small achievement. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: Bujalski is very much interested in how people -- in his instance, quite intelligent, civilized and articulate twentysomething individuals -- cope with life's everyday challenges, finding naturalistic drama in what may initially seem pedestrian. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Makes up in depth for what it sacrifices in breadth. Read more

Cary Darling, Dallas Morning News: It's rambling, doesn't really go anywhere, and is not necessarily about anything beyond its own sense of place. But it's mildly diverting nonetheless. It's about mood, not plot. Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: Beeswax reminds viewers that in talkative films much can go unspoken. For writer-director Andrew Bujalski these betwixt-between, hem-haw spaces are the places to be. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: There are fine, fresh observational moments, but the film is much ado about not so much. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Bujalski has an unusual gift for spotlighting small moments and underplaying large ones. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Beeswax ranks as one of the most mature mumblecore exercises yet, a sure sign that the movement will live on despite its misguided detractors. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: This warm, graceful and fundamentally optimistic movie snuck up on me, in the best possible way. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: There are viewers and critics who simply can't abide mumblecore. But give this movie a chance: Bujalski has a serious talent for finding resonance in the mundane. Read more

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: It is typical of Bujalski's finely wrought observation of their lives that the film ends, as it began, with a moment in which Lauren is poised, indecisively, on the cusp of a decision. Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: More than ever, Bujalski comes across like the natural heir to someone like Eric Rohmer, an artist who creates intricate, perceptive and artful cinema that rejects unnecessary style and contrivance. Read more

Greg Quill, Toronto Star: Ultimately a dull story about dull thirtysomethings whose dull issues are conveyed in a prying, cinema verite style, implying drama and meaning in the mundane details of their dull lives. Read more

Alissa Simon, Variety: Although Bujalski's spin on the legal thriller lacks narrative tension, it ambles on pleasantly enough, buoyed by the twins' refreshingly forthright screen presence. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Bujalski has always been good at making closeness feel exotic, and awkwardness seem natural. Read more