Radiant City (2006)

93% of critics liked it
(15 reviews)
75% of users liked it
(3,690 ratings)

Radiant City, which represents the first collaboration between documentarist Gary Burns and journalist Jim Brown, takes as its springboard thesis the idea that suburban life is quickly becoming the norm for families across North America. It thus carries viewers inside of the "suburban mystique" via… More Radiant City, which represents the first collaboration between documentarist Gary Burns and journalist Jim Brown, takes as its springboard thesis the idea that suburban life is quickly becoming the norm for families across North America. It thus carries viewers inside of the "suburban mystique" via a protracted dissection of a clan that resides in a planned community, the Moss family. The film specifically examines how the suburban landscape, with its prefab houses, playgrounds, schools, strip malls, and community activities, continues to shape and define the lives and perceptions of these individuals -- from the father's involvement with a local theatrical troupe to the children's feelings of ennui and sense of removal from the neighbors in their subdivision. Burns offsets the picture's stark themes and undertones, however, with a sharp, wicked, and occasionally satirical sense of humor that never fails to catch the absurdities or ironies of this landscape. Musician Joey Santiago, from the band the Pixies, complements the images with a gritty rock soundtrack that draws out the sense of familial dislocation and desperation. The picture also traces the rise of suburbia historically, and features input by such suburban commentators as Mark Kingwell, from the University of Toronto, and writer James Howard Kunstler, who criticize the initial postwar model for suburban communities and suggest that it may not provide the optimal environment for living and raising a family. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 25 min.
Directed By: Jim Brown (XIX), Gary Burns
Genres: Documentary, Special Interest

In Theaters: Apr 14, 2007 Wide
On DVD: Mar 4, 2008
Studio: Burns Film Ltd.

Critic Reviews

V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Suburban sprawl takes a well-deserved hit in Radiant City, a documentary by Canadian filmmaker Gary Burns and journalist Jim Brown.
Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times
Blending documentary elements and some dramatic material, Radiant City is an acerbic position paper on the cultural damage done by postwar architectural fads.
Aaron Hillis, Village Voice
[An] enlightening and disturbingly funny critique of North American suburban sprawl.
Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star
Radiant City is a movie about communities that offer everything prospective citizens might want or need, save this: a human reason to live there.
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail
Although this National Film Board-produced film is promoted as a documentary, it's really a combination of essay and drama about that favourite bugbear, suburbia.
Louis Proyect, rec.arts.movies.reviews
A sardonic look at suburban sprawl in Calgary. With its wry surrealistic touches, this is a movie that makes you smile while it makes you think. Highly recommended
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com
a very well crafted and easy to watch movie
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
Author James Howard Kunstler says the suburban landscape is "brutal" and "soul-draining," and it's hard to argue when the filmmakers show him sitting in a bike path "rest area," a little bench behind a chain-link fence with a view of the freeway.
Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
Irrefutable evidence that post modern suburbia is an unmitigated disaster which can't deliver on its seductive promise to deliver the good life to refugees from the big city.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
[A] sublimely slippery, slightly surreal and not entirely 'just the facts, ma'am' documentary.
Noel Murray, AV Club
The faux-documentary aspect of Radiant City is a huge gamble that doesn't pay off.
Kevin Williamson, Jam! Movies
It acknowledges the lure of urban sprawl is as every bit as phony yet intoxicating as the tug of cinema itself.
S. James Wegg, Film Threat
The pundits bring their considerable expertise to bear on out-of-control development that's on a reckless course of urban/ suburban destruction.
S. James Wegg, JWR
Radiant City is a fascinating 'thoughtumentary'
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
...successful as both a documentary on the suburbs and an intimate look at the ups and downs of an admittedly quirky nuclear family.

Read all 15 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Patrick D

One sided at times, but definitely makes it clear that it is one sided, in a way. It's also a very beautiful looking film, and the shots are composed really well. This of course takes away from the realism, but then again, what documentary is actually "real".......

Cast

Daniel Jeffery
as Nick Moss
Bob Legare
as Evan Moss
Jane MacFarlane
as Jane Moss

Ashleigh Fidyk
as Jennifer Moss
Curt McKinstry
as Ken
Karen Jeffery
as Karen

See full cast

Trailers & Clips

Now you can share movies with your friends on Facebook!

Discover movies your friends are watching
Keep track of what you want to see
Add your reviews to your Timeline