The Architect (2006)

11% of critics liked it
(38 reviews)
31% of users liked it
(1,263 ratings)

Tonya Neely (Viola Davis) is a neighborhood activist on the south side of Chicago, trying to get her community to rally to tear down Eden Court, the dangerous housing project where she lives. After a family tragedy, she sent her youngest daughter, Cammie (Serena Reeder), off to live with friends in… More Tonya Neely (Viola Davis) is a neighborhood activist on the south side of Chicago, trying to get her community to rally to tear down Eden Court, the dangerous housing project where she lives. After a family tragedy, she sent her youngest daughter, Cammie (Serena Reeder), off to live with friends in a middle-class neighborhood, where she could go to a better school. Leo Waters (Anthony LaPaglia), the architect who designed Eden Court many years ago, lives a seemingly idyllic life with his wife, Julia (Isabella Rossellini), his teenage daughter, Christina (Hayden Panettiere), and his son, Martin (Sebastian Stan), who has just returned home after dropping out of college. Leo's family is on the verge of a crisis. Julia's unhappiness with their marriage leads her to clean the house obsessively. Christina is only 15, but she is eager to explore her budding sexuality. Martin is understandably cynical about his home life, and confused about his own desires. When Tonya contacts Leo, hoping to convince him to sign the petition to tear down Eden Court, it sets a chain of events in motion that will force both families to confront the issues that they've tried so hard to avoid. The Architect, which also features performances by Paul James, Walton Goggins, Tijuana Ricks, Lauren Hodges, and Malcolm Goodwin, was directed by Matt Tauber, adapted from a play by Scottish playwright David Greig. The film had its world premiere at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 21 min.
Directed By: Matt Tauber
Written By: Matt Tauber, David Greig
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Dec 8, 2006 Limited
On DVD: Dec 5, 2006
Studio: Magnolia Pictures

Critic Reviews

John Monaghan, Detroit Free Press
Despite his obvious earnestness, first-time director and cowriter Matt Tauber is ill equipped to mine emotions this complex.
Michael Booth, Denver Post
Too many "big" moments are happening to too many people for the movie to feel plausible, and Tauber tries to tie many of those plots together in a way that seems contrived.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Occasionally a pallid film is salvaged by one wonderful performance. To the extent The Architect will be remembered, it will be for giving a starring role to the exceptional Viola Davis.
Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
Given the fact that The Architect is obviously a work in the tradition of Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams, not to mention Henrik Ibsen, it's disappointing.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
Despite graphic scenes of drug- and crime-infested buildings where people are forced to live behind bars like prisoners, The Architect still feels stagebound, inert when it needs to be cinematic.
Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times
...A grim little exercise in exorcising middle-class guilt.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
A well-intentioned misfire...
Michelle Orange, Reeler
It is frustrating to watch the film blow some respectable capital on indulgence in narrative frippery.
Ted Murphy, Murphy's Movie Reviews
In my opinion, the film tries to cover too much ground. The plot strands don't exactly coalesce into a tight story. Perhaps that was [the director's] intent, but for me something was missing. The cast does yeoman work but I somehow couldn't exactly get ca
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com
When Tauber finds his focus, The Architect is worth watching. But Tauber rarely finds his focus.
Jeff Giles, Bullz-Eye.com
It would bear mentioning that nothing winds up being resolved in the film, if it weren't for the fact that there's nothing to resolve.
Kam Williams, EURWeb
What makes the movie satisfying is the fact that its ethnic tensions are never overtly exacerbated, but rather subtly illustrated simply by the comparison of the decadent malaise of the spoiled-rotten versus the neverending nightmare of the have-nots.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
The movie doesn't so much tell a story as scream its messages at us in a series of awkward scenes that test the actors' ability to make fake-o dialogue seem like something an actual person might say.
Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central
I am sick to death of taking the White Guilt Trip.
Nathan Rabin, AV Club
The Architect wears its heavy social consciousness like an albatross, and Tauber's plodding, earnest direction does little to wean the material away from its stage roots.
Tom Keogh, Seattle Times
Painfully portentous and more solemn than Santa's funeral, The Architect gets this year's prize for the movie most likely to spoil holiday cheer.

Read all 16 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

danny d

this movie is hard to rate. its very story driven which is good, and the stories that are presented are very good. the telling of the stories however is not good at all. this film follows the unfortunate indi film trend of leaving a story incomplete at the end. the problem is that… More
this movie is hard to rate. its very story driven which is good, and the stories that are presented are very good. the telling of the stories however is not good at all. this film follows the unfortunate indi film trend of leaving a story incomplete at the end. the problem is that this film is only 1hr and 11 min. they could have used another 30 min to finish telling the stories. much of the diologue is unexplained and doesnt seem to fit the story and some of the actions of the characters have no context so they dont make sense. i give it a decent rating on potential, hayden is good in this flick and the movie could have been great with more time.
Rico Z

This movie was one of those films that came and went. Nobody probably saw it--and that's a shame! Granted, the suburban family drama has been done-to-death ever since the mesmerizing American Beauty (and no other suburban drama could live up to it--except for Little Children) but… More
This movie was one of those films that came and went. Nobody probably saw it--and that's a shame! Granted, the suburban family drama has been done-to-death ever since the mesmerizing American Beauty (and no other suburban drama could live up to it--except for Little Children) but this movie is a valiant effort in this genre. It has undertones of the struggle that children of a dysfunctional family have to put up. Worrying about pimples before prom isn't good enough for films like this. You have to be sexually confused, insecure about your breasts and worried that your dad is "perving" on you. As for the parents themselves, Isabella Rossellini plays the sullen, emotionally-unbalanced housewife to a tee. She is great. And Anthony LaPaglia--as the architect you has to deal with the crumbling infrastructure of his household along with the crumbling structure he built for low-income families--is understated and captivating in his performance. The film has a solid script and some arresting social commentaries to convey. It just feels a little watered-down and I think that comes from having only a handful of characters. It feels more like something that could've been a better stage play; rather than a feature-length film. Still, the movie is worth watching; if you can catch it on DVD in the coming months! It's nice to see little gems that never see the light of day or people may or may not have ever heard about. On a side note, I happened to see this movie at a theatre that used a BlueRay DVD player. Let me say that this technology is mind-blowing. It's a shame this movie wasn't a special-effects flick because the visuals would've been out of this world. It is the most crystal clear image of film I have ever seen. No pixelation, no blurriness or scratches to worry about. Pure digital heaven.
Walter M

[font=Century Gothic]In "The Architect," a long time resident, Tonya Neely(Viola Davis), of the Eden Court housing projects on the south side of Chicago has come to the conclusion that the inadequately repaired, poorly built, gang infested buildings are beyond hope and… More
[font=Century Gothic]In "The Architect," a long time resident, Tonya Neely(Viola Davis), of the Eden Court housing projects on the south side of Chicago has come to the conclusion that the inadequately repaired, poorly built, gang infested buildings are beyond hope and wishes to see them torn down.(Her son commited suicide a few years back. One daughter, Cammie(Serena Reeder), lives elsewhere while attending high school. Another, Missy(Marsha Stephanie Blake) already has a baby of her own.) She even tries to get the original architect, Leo Waters(Anthony LaPaglia), to help but he declines, not seeing a problem...[/font] [font=Century Gothic]"The Architect" is a slight but intriguing movie about the difference between reform and revolution. In this case, it is the difference between continually repairing the projects or tearing them down and starting from scratch.(Tonya never does say what she wants to replace the projects with.) If I remember my urban history right, housing projects were built with the best of intentions but they also destroyed the cohesion of neighborhoods. Leo does not admit that there is a problem with the buildings he designed while not noticing his family falling apart around him.(Thus, saving the movie from the dreaded "rich white folks have problems, too" syndrome.) But we never get a true sense of what it is to live in these projects. [/font]