(Translated by https://www.hiragana.jp/)
Chelsea Walls Reviews, Ratings, Credits, and More at Metacritic
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20110110072704/http://www.metacritic.com:80/movie/chelsea-walls
  • Starring: Paz de la Huerta, Vincent D'Onofrio
  • Summary: The residents of the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, young and full of expectations, mingle with the old hotel ghosts and guests, ultimately becoming interchangeable. They form a community, linked by their dreams. The Chelsea Hotel never really leaves the people who live there, nor do they ever really leave it. (Lions Gate Films) Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 18
  2. Negative: 9 out of 18
  1. Ethan Hawke, in his feature directorial debut, has brought Nicolette Burdette's play to the screen with fluid grace and a perfect blend of dreaminess and grit, expressed in camerawork that seems to float and in Jeff Tweedy's shimmering, gently insistent score.
  2. Reviewed by: Patrick Z. McGavin
    50
    Aims for a sadness and desperation that is crudely announced rather than subtly demonstrated.
  3. Reviewed by: Mark Olsen
    30
    Pretension, in its own way, is a form of bravery. For this reason and this reason only -- the power of its own steadfast, hoity-toity convictions -- Chelsea Walls deserves a medal.

See all 18 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 8
  3. Negative: 3 out of 8
  1. toto
    9
    I´ve just seen it (already started). I really enjoyed it and I guess that´s how it has to be; I ´ll have to accept the fact some people won´t like it... we´re all different after all. However, I´d be surely satisfied by knowing that everyone was caught by at least some fragment of it. That is, we´re all different in this world, but deep in the heart, we´re all the same. Good bye Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. AdamM
    8
    I thought that the movie was above avg. It did have a unique plot, but some of the senes were kind of lengthy. I have been by this place on my rollerblades going to the chelsea skate park on the pier. Anyways I like the music and the art keep these movies coming. THANKS. Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. PJ
    2
    I don't understand the series of 10's this film earned in the user ratings. If a film like Citizen Kane represents a generally accepted level of supreme fillmmaking, and therefore worthy of a 10, Chelsea Walls is nowhere near that mark. In addition, the notion that anyone giving this film a poor review, is either not very bright or didn't view the film with an open mind, is rather immature. This film was recommended to me by a friend, with whom I share a similar taste in film. So, I went into this expecting to like the Chelsea Walls...but that's not how it turned out. First off, the grainy digital picture and lifeless camerawork make the visuals an absolute chore to take in. The dim interior and exterior lighting doesn't help matters any. As far as the actual performances go, there were a few actors that turned in intermittently compelling performances. However, the amount of time devoted to most of the characters is brief which doesn't allow for much development. Not only were the individual story arcs quite thin, they also failed to interweave in a manner that added anything of value to the plot line. In general, everything about this film seemed very contrived and amateurish. It plays more like a documentary than an ensemble drama. Had this been a documentary chronicling the lives of actual Chelsea residents, I would've been more receptive, and been able to take the characters seriously. Yet, it's a fictional tale of struggling artists pretentiously portrayed by established actors in somber settings. The most pressing question this film raises, is just what the filmmakers were trying to express about the Chelsea and its residents. Apparently, what was once a grand hotel that housed some of histories greatest American artists, is now nothing more than a run-down haven for aimless deadbeats who's personal problems will prevent them from ever making great art. That seemed to be the sentiment of the two cops in the film, and is what makes them, sadly, the only two characters I could really identify with. If I had to describe this film in one word, that word would be "bleak." Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 8 User Reviews

Trailers