Storyville | Rotten Tomatoes

Storyville

R

1992

1 hr. 50 min.

Crime

Drama

List

67%

6 Reviews

Tomatometer

22%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

The family patriarch (Jason Robards) advises a politician/lawyer (James Spader) opposite an ex-lover (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) in a seamy New Orleans murder trial.

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steve d

Spader is good but it is not especially original.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This was a fantastic suspenseful movie. Terrific performances and excellent directing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I was pretty disappointed in this when I saw it for the first time recently. James Spader did a decent job as always but the rest of the movie just kinda farts around at a slow pace,which is ok but it takes so long for stuff to happen.You kinda just don't care anymore when you finally get the pay off. This was supposed to be some kind of a political thriller but it never really makes you feel like the main character is ever in any real danger. James Spader plays the son of a congressman in Storyville Lousiana, who's father dies during a hunting trip, so Spader decides to take over for his dad in his congressional race to remain in office. During his campaign bizarre and strange people come in and out of his life to either warm him or try and hurt him. The suspense with all this is kinda lackluster and it could have been so much better. The rest of the cast kinda just looks bored and Jason Robards was really showing his age here.Piper Laurie seems comatose and nut bag crazy like she usually is.Michael parks plays a decent asshole character like he usually does, and the rest of the cast is kinda blah. I think movies like this were the reason why James Spader never became a super well known leading man up there with the likes of Alec Baldwin or Charlie Sheen. He made too many of these so so decent movies and only a few mega winners that made him a well known name in hollywood. Its such a shame that hes now replacing Steve Carell on the soon to be cancelled Office,instead of still making top hollywood films or starting another award winning show like Boston Legal.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I was pretty disappointed in this when I saw it for the first time recently. James Spader did a decent job as always but the rest of the movie just kinda farts around at a slow pace,which is ok but it takes so long for stuff to happen.You kinda just don't care anymore when you finally get the pay off. This was supposed to be some kind of a political thriller but it never really makes you feel like the main character is ever in any real danger. James Spader plays the son of a congressman in Storyville Lousiana, who's father dies during a hunting trip, so Spader decides to take over for his dad in his congressional race to remain in office. During his campaign bizarre and strange people come in and out of his life to either warm him or try and hurt him. The suspense with all this is kinda lackluster and it could have been so much better. The rest of the cast kinda just looks bored and Jason Robards was really showing his age here.Piper Laurie seems comatose and nut bag crazy like she usually is.Michael parks plays a decent asshole character like he usually does, and the rest of the cast is kinda blah. I think movies like this were the reason why James Spader never became a super well known leading man up there with the likes of Alec Baldwin or Charlie Sheen. He made too many of these so so decent movies and only a few mega winners that made him a well known name in hollywood. Its such a shame that hes now replacing Steve Carell on the soon to be cancelled Office,instead of still making top hollywood films or starting another award winning show like Boston Legal.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The film is too dry and drab at times, but it also has some really interesting bits peppered throughout. By 1992, James Spader had perfected his southern accent that he had struggled so hilariously with in the early days of The New Kids. His lustful Congressional hopeful is so bloody absurd in his actions (especially in that early Dojo scene) and I was frustrated that the story never let him do a proper investigation of the deaths at the center of the mystery. Butâ¦I kinda dig the subtle absurdity of not just his character but the other characters as well. Michael Parks as the slimy detective is fantastic and there is a courtroom shootout near the end that just blew my mind. Hell, it felt like it could of belonged in one of the nuttier episodes of Boston Legal. VF.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/10/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Mark Frost's ambitious directorial debut is an oedipal thriller - Greek tragedy by way of Chinatown - in which the sins of the father have political, social and environmental ramifications. Even so, this flat transposition of an Australian novel will disappoint admirers of Frost's scripts for Twin Peaks and Hill Street Blues.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Mark Frost

Director

James Spader

Cray Fowler

Joanne Whalley

Natalie Tate

Jason Robards

Clifford Fowler

Charlotte Lewis

Lee Tran

Michael Warren

Nathan LeFleur

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Adam Mars-Jones

Independent (UK)

The plot is pretty creaky, but you can love a plot, as you can love a house, for its creaks, and there are passages in Storyville where Frost's footwork is accomplished enough for him to get past the dodgiest step without a sound.

Nov 14, 2017

Full Review

Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 3.5/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Roger Ebert

Chicago Sun-Times

[It's] a movie for people who like New Orleans better when it is dark and mysterious. It is for romantics. It is not for pragmatists, who will complain that the characters do not behave according to perfect logic, and that there are holes in its plot.

Rated: 3.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 23, 2005

Full Review

Michael Dequina

TheMovieReport.com

Rated: 3/5

Jul 11, 2005

Full Review

Philip Martin

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Rated: 2/5

Mar 31, 2003

Full Review

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Synopsis

The family patriarch (Jason Robards) advises a politician/lawyer (James Spader) opposite an ex-lover (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer) in a seamy New Orleans murder trial.

Director: Mark Frost
Rating: R
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): Mar 3, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $352.5K
Sound Mix: Stereo, Surround

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