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Funny Pages

2022

Owen Kline

Daniel Zolghadri, Matthew Maher, Miles Emanuel, Maria Dizzia ...

5.4

413

Comedy A coming-of-age story of a teenage cartoonist who rejects the comforts of his suburban life in a misguided quest for soul.

	Media	Author	Review
		Jordan Mintzer The Hollywood Reporter	"The cinematic equivalent of a dark, morbidly hilarious graphic novel (...) A fresh and uncompromising feature debut for The Squid and the Whale star turned director Owen Kline."
		Stephanie Bunbury Deadline	"'Funny Pages' is made well and with conviction. I'm assured it's destined to become a cult favorite. The initiates are welcome to it"
		Richard Brody The New Yorker	"A smoothly professional, familiarly quirky, aesthetically conventional movie about the quest for freedom and originality"
		Ben Kenigsberg rogerebert.com	"'Funny Pages' sometimes substitutes jaundice for humor, but it's abrasive and distinctive enough to suggest that Kline, as a director, may yet find his voice"
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"A deliciously dark coming-of-age comedy (...) Owen Kline fuses teen innocence with adult sexuality in a bad-taste debut film that recalls 'American Splendor' (...) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"The prickly protagonists of Funny Pages would not be pleasant company in real life, but writer-director Owen Kline’s proudly dyspeptic feature debut gives his characters a scruffy integrity that makes them perversely fascinating"
		Vikram Murthi IndieWire	"Ideas might be recycled in 'Funny Pages', but they're converted into something distinct"
		Charles Bramesco The Playlist	"Kline proves that he's put in the work and knows his stuff. As a director, he may still have some growth ahead of him, but this re-introduction gives viewers more than enough cause to follow him on that path"
		Neil Smith Total Film	"Kevin Kline's director son suggests that talent is hereditary with this witty and poignant look at an artist in embryo (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Derek Smith Slant	"Kline consistently displays a warped, sharp-edged sense of humor that’s all his own, and his ragtag crew of misfit characters are every bit as meticulously detailed and carefully shaded (...) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		Lee Brown The Review Geek	"An underrated gem that shouldn't be kept underground!"
		Owen Gleiberman Variety	"'Funny Pages' wants to be about comic-book love, and at times it is, but the movie is working so hard to be disreputable that it lets the love get steamrolled."
		Leonardo Goi The Film Stage	"It's a work as faithful to its peculiar milieu as it is universal in its themes —a coming-of-age that feels, in a wistful and cumulatively moving way, like going back in time"
		Jesse Hassenger Polygon	"A memorable, sometimes hilarious movie (...) developing a distinctive, alternative artistic sensibility while trying to shake off upper-class respectability"
		Esther Zuckerman IGN	"While this story of an arrogant aspiring comic book artist will be entirely off putting to some, it’s that very cringeworthy energy that makes it well worth your time"
		Lex Briscuso SlashFilm	"The movie does a few things quite well, namely two of the project's most crucial elements: characters, setting, and a few memorable performances (...) so ultimately, the semi-forgettable Kline debut had a few things going for it"
		Katie Walsh The Wrap	"Darkly hilarious (...) [It] is still such a bracing example of a singular, and distinctive, new voice, that one can’t help but love it"
		Jordan Hoffman AV Club	"Between the casting, the locations, the use of Super 16mm stock, and emphasis on close-ups, my God, you can smell this movie"
		Josh Bell CBR	"A main character who's entitled and unlikable makes 'Funny Pages' tough to enjoy, even if it successfully captures a particular comics subculture"
		Richard Whittaker Austin Chronicle	"It's all deliberately grotesque, but comic readers will be pleasantly surprised at the degree of compassion for and comprehension of the culture Kline portrays (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"

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