Pure

2004

1 hr. 20 min.

Drama

List

74%

23 Reviews

Tomatometer

59%

250+ Ratings

Audience Score

A streetwise collegian (Laura Jordan) falls for a sensitive man (Gianpaolo Venuta), but her return to partying threatens her future.

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Critics Consensus

This entry in the kitchen-sink realism genre is elevated by its strong performances.

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Audience Member

Ok so he has magical powers when you look in his eyes or something? Weird, weird movie and not in a good way. Had some interesting aspects but couldn't escape the low budget feel, and in the end I couldn't sympathise with any of the characters because on the whole they were so unlikeable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Pure is an amazing film that almost nobody knows about. I think rottentomatoes messed up because the summary and poster of this movie are wrong. The cast is all mixed up as well. But that aside, this movie is extremely well acted, painfully realistic, and completely underrated. Paul's father has died, and his mother is a herione addict. He has a brother and lives in the ghetto part of London. His life sucks, and everybody thinks his mother is a junkie. She is trying to come clean, but she cant when the local drugdealer keeps popping up. So Paul is really struggling to keep his mother clean, and even gets high himself in the process. Things happen to this kid that no kid should have to deal with. It makes you cry for him sometimes. Now what really interested me was Knightley. She plays the pregnant junkie waitress Louise. She seems to be on the front cover of every poster, but she is a very secondary character. She is very good at her role (well of course, she is a talented actress), and you get to even care about her character as well. You want her to make the right choices and keep her friendship with Paul, because they both help each other in a way. This was Keira Knightley before she was Keira Knightley, it was before Curse of the Black Pearl, and she really shined in the movie to be honest. Her 15 minutes on the screen in all felt much longer and real than that. **Spoiler** I was sad to see her fall into prostitution at the end, and end her friendship with Paul. Her character was not closed very well, and I wish there could have been more. But like I said Louise is a secondary character, for the real characters are Paul and his mom. His mom is so keen to get off heroine that she ends up locking herself in her room (with food/drinks in there) and tells Paul not to open the door for a week. Paul obeys, and he hears things no child should ever hear from a parent. In his frustration from her evil words he hangs out with Louise, and when he comes back he finds that Lenny (the drug dealer) has opened the door and given her her heroine. Lenny is the cause for all sorts of trouble, he got Louise pregant, and wont let Paul's mom get clean. That is the basic plot of Pure. I am very glad I watched this movie. I am giving this movie a perfect review because A. Its painfully realistic and developed... B. It is very underrated. If this was a big film I might be a bit harder on it. The soundtrack, while stylish in the opening credits, just gets repeated over and over again. It gets very annoying, but that should not stop you for watching this brillaint movie. Pure--- 10/10

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This was a pretty good movie, there was something about it that made it so raw and likeable.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It was hard to rate this so low. It could have been so well done given the acting, the plot, the theme. It's hard to believe that all those things missed their mark so thoroughly but they did.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Depressing but extremely well acted and thoughtfully made. Excellent score, fine cinematography. Well written and directed. The characters are very well developed

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Ok so he has magical powers when you look in his eyes or something? Weird, weird movie and not in a good way. Had some interesting aspects but couldn't escape the low budget feel, and in the end I couldn't sympathise with any of the characters because on the whole they were so unlikeable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

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Jim Donovan

Director

Laura Jordan

Misha

Gianpaolo Venuta

Josh

Karen Simpson

Angie

Robert Crooks

Ricky

Tim Rozon

Sam

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Empire Magazine

Rated: 4/5

Dec 30, 2006

Full Review

Kevin Thomas

Los Angeles Times

Eden, who holds the film together by his winning presence and doughty performance, effectively conveys the effect of severe challenges that no child should ever have to face.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 6, 2005

Full Review

G. Allen Johnson

San Francisco Chronicle

Although there is nothing really new here, an honest sense of humanity wins out.

Rated: 3/4

Sep 23, 2005

Full Review

Eric D. Snider

eFilmCritic.com

Rated: 4/5

Feb 24, 2012

Full Review

Jules Brenner

Cinema Signals

Rated: 3/4

Sep 10, 2005

Full Review

Jules Brenner

Filmcritic.com

derivative ... we've seen better

Rated: 3/5

Sep 9, 2005

Full Review

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Synopsis

A streetwise collegian (Laura Jordan) falls for a sensitive man (Gianpaolo Venuta), but her return to partying threatens her future.

Director: Jim Donovan
Screenwriter: Eugene Garcia
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English