This Beautiful City (2007)
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14% of critics liked it
(7 reviews) -
33% of users liked it
(278 ratings)
Director Ed Gass-Donnelly highlights the inner city grey zone that exists between the haves and the have-nots in this urban drama focusing on the displacement of the lower classes by urban gentrification. In many cities, the only thing separating the junkies from the creative class is a posh,… More Director Ed Gass-Donnelly highlights the inner city grey zone that exists between the haves and the have-nots in this urban drama focusing on the displacement of the lower classes by urban gentrification. In many cities, the only thing separating the junkies from the creative class is a posh, overpriced condo that sits where an abandoned building used to be. Carol (Caroline Cave) and her architect husband Harry (Noam Jenkins) are members of the latter group. Despite outward appearances, however, this struggling urban couple is consumed by their petty problems - both husband and wife slowly dying from the inside out. Lately, Harry has been feeling increasing pressure from the senior members of his firm, and he's been taking out his frustrations on his depressive spouse. One day, realizing that each lash from Harry's tongue is sending her one step closer to the grave, Carol leans over the balcony railing in a haze and immediately topples over the edge. As Carol recovers in the hospital and forms a warm connection to kindly policeman Peter (Stuart Hughes), husband Harry strikes up a conversation with neighborhood streetwalker Pretty (Kristin Booth), who scoffs at the architect's ambitious plan to improve their neighborhood. But Pretty's devoted boyfriend Johnny (Aaron Poole) doesn't want his girlfriend selling her body on the sidewalks anymore, and he's willing to fight to get her off of the streets before it's too late. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Directed By
- Ed Gass-Donnelly
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
- In Theaters
- Sep 11, 2007 Wide
- Studio
- Cinema Epoch
Critic Reviews
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Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
Gass-Donnelly tricks up this phony baloney with nervous camerawork and editing while also stranding his actors with scads of second-rate dialogue. A bad time is had by all.
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Robert Koehler, Variety
Gass-Donnelly's over-calculated, crisis-fueled script links yuppies, crack addicts and a cop, with few signs of its origins as the writer-helmer's stage play Descent.
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Philip Marchand, Toronto Star
A sense of coherence is not helped by an arty, handheld-camera feeling.
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Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail
Too much of the...film is bombast and street noise.
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Adam Nayman, L.A. Weekly
The only real notes of authenticity are struck by the actors, and even then, only on the distaff side.
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Cast
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Kristin Booth
as Pretty
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Caroline Cave
as Carol
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Stuart Hughes
as Peter
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Noam Jenkins
as Harry
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Aaron Poole
as Johnny