Amy Taubin

Eccentric and thoroughly winning.

Unabashedly personal and uncool...but between you and me, dear reader, I love it to death.

Restrained, tough, and subtle enough to be as engrossing on the second viewing as it was on the first.

A pop culture document for a mass audience.

A veritable Chekhov tragicomedy of provincial life.

Downey, who radiates more energy doing nothing discernible than most other actors do when they let it all hang out, takes the film to another level.

A film of rare tenderness and mystery.

It remains one of the most wrenching films about adolescent angst, thanks largely to the performance of Phil Daniels.

Along with Raoul Coutard's radiant cinematography, what makes the film extraordinary is Karina, the pure curves of her face a contradiction to the marionette angularity of her body.

Prince-Bythewood gives the film a style that's easy on the eye but also has muscle -- on and off the court.