Holy Smoke 1999

Roger Ebert, At the Movies: The film isn't really about cults at all, but about the struggle between men and women, and it's a little surprising, although not boring, when it turns from a mystic travelogue into a feminist parable. Read more

Susan Stark, Detroit News: Holy Smoke! owes a lot to Winslet, both because of the way she looks and because of the emotional energy she brings to her work. Without Winslet, the film would be barely worth watching. Read more

Janet Maslin, New York Times: As Holy Smoke moves from its early mix of rapture and humor into this more serious, confrontational stage, it runs into trouble. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Holy Smoke is a demanding and often perverse picture. But its sense of itself is exhilarating. Read more

Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times: At once hilarious and serious, cruel and tender, and bristling with vitality, Holy Smoke is the right movie for the millennium, envisioning new possibilities in the way people view and relate to one another. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: All sorts of questions go unanswered, and there's little of the density found in Campion's early work; this is mainly smoke, not fire. Read more

Paul Clinton (CNN.com), CNN.com: This script -- to be kind -- is uneven at best and completely illogical at its worst. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Winslet is the sort of actress who can rage at the heavens and reach for them at the same time. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Nice try, but there's not a laugh in sight. Read more

Peter Rainer, New York Magazine/Vulture: It probably all looked good on paper, but the playing out is something else again. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Winslet and Keitel make this a must-view in a season where the scent of Oscar is in the air. Read more

Andrew Sarris, New York Observer: Ms. Winslet is, by contrast, champagne and caviar for moviegoing grown-ups with good taste. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Holy Smoke is one of those movies that takes some potentially fascinating ideas and shipwrecks them by poor execution and even worse writing. Read more

Mary Elizabeth Williams, Salon.com: Campion, who co-wrote the script with her sister Anna, appears to have spent so much time and energy creating Ruth that she didn't have anything left over for rest of the characters. Read more

Bob Graham, San Francisco Chronicle: It also has a terrific subject and the spirit to bring it off. Read more

Derek Adams, Time Out: It's brave, adventurous, refreshingly frank -- qualities also marking the performances, particularly those of the leads. Read more

David Rooney, Variety: Original in every sense, this often difficult film about family, relationships, sexual politics, spiritual questing, faith and obsession further explores the director's abiding fascinations in excitingly unconventional terms. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: Filled with flashy sight gags, overwrought performances, and madly overlapping dialogue. Read more