64
Metascore
27 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80L.A. WeeklyScott FoundasL.A. WeeklyScott FoundasThe boldest provocation of Mitchell’s sweet, tender and gently funny film may be its exuberant celebration of community and togetherness at a cultural moment rife with fatalism and disconnect.
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghA darkly comic trifle that follows in the footsteps of such films as Catherine Breillat's "Romance" (2000), "The Brown Bunny" (2003) and Michael Winterbottom's "9 Songs" (2004) by incorporating hard-core sex into a nonpornographic narrative.
- 75PremiereGlenn KennyPremiereGlenn KennyMitchell's energy and occasional ingenuity make Shortbus an engaging viewing experience, provided you can stomach it.
- 75New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickMitchell's adventurous, big- hearted, pansexual mosaic of New Yorkers looking for love and orgasms (not necessarily in that order), is a rare example of a nonporn film that doesn't exploit graphic sex as a gimmick.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceThere's something refreshingly frisky and celebratory about Shortbus that offsets its flaws. It's a triple-X midnight movie with a heart of squarest gold.
- 70The New York TimesManohla DargisThe New York TimesManohla DargisAn ode to the joy and sweet release of sex, the film manages to be a sincere, modest political venture that finds humor where you might least expect it, notably in a ménage à trois featuring a cheeky rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."
- 60VarietyTodd McCarthyVarietyTodd McCarthyUnquestionably the most sexually graphic American narrative feature ever made outside the realm of the porn industry, John Cameron Mitchell's ambitious attempt to merge his characters' active sexual lives with more conventional emotional content is playfully and provocatively entertaining for roughly the first half, but loses staying power thereafter when investment in the uncompelling characters' problems is requested.
- 58Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumEntertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumShortbus is chipper, it's fresh, it emits a distinct musk of controversy. I'll take the longbus.
- 50The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe film lacks the depth and discipline of Mitchell's first film venture, "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," which makes Shortbus a real disappointment.
- 50ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliAlthough Shortbus doesn't work as porn (and I don't believe it's intended to), it also doesn't work as a serious drama. The storyline is juvenile and the characters remain poorly developed and incomplete.