3 Backyards

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3 Backyards

R

Released Mar 11, 2011

1h 27m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

76%

Tomatometer

17 Reviews

31%

Popcornmeter

1,000+ Ratings

An executive (Elias Koteas), a housewife (Edie Falco) and a youngster (Rachel Resheff) spend a curious day in their suburban town.

Bruce Diones

The New Yorker

Mendelsohn's dialogue is, for the most part, as spare as poetry, and the three stories are woven together masterfully and acquire a gleaming aura that's almost pastoral.

Mar 14, 2011

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Stephen Holden

New York Times

Little is left to chance, and every detail contributes to a tightly schematic, microcosmic poetic concept.

Rated: 4/5

Mar 11, 2011

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Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Well-acted and acutely observed, the sort of cerebral fare you can more typically find on HBO than in theaters these days.

Rated: 2.5/4

Mar 11, 2011

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

This dark, well-acted suburban tale is follow-up to the gifted Mendleson's most promising feature debut

Rated: B

Jul 28, 2011

Full Review

Beth Accomando

KPBS.org

And although Mendelsohn maintains a certain cool detachment, he also allows the film to occasionally soar in unexpected ways.

Jun 24, 2011

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Tricia Olszewski

Washington City Paper

Mendelsohn may believe he's presenting an unvarnished look at middle-class America, but if these kinds of people exist, you won't recognize them.

Apr 8, 2011

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Audience Member

This is one of my favorite movies. I think it should be shown to students who want to make film their careers. It's like a Picasso painting, one person will see it and find it uninteresting, while others like myself find it absolutely brilliant. Yes brilliant!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Unnecessarily cryptic.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Slow-moving, disjointed and pointless.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

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Audience Member

Terrible film. I want that hour and a half back...

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

02/22/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The stories were good, but all together I didn't know what to do with them or how to feel...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

walter m

"3 Backyards" starts with John(Elias Koteas) having a staring contest with his wife(Kathryn Erbe) at 3:30 am before he leaves to catch a flight that turns out to be canceled. He's not the only one leaving town as an actress(Embeth Davidtz) asks her neighbor Peggy(Edie Falco) for a ride to the Port Jefferson Ferry. And because she is just a kid, Christina(Rachel Resheff) has to go to school, even though she just missed the school bus. The thing I like most about "3 Backyards" are its moments of silence that not only allow the actors to take control but also say more than any of the dialogue does. What the movie comes tantalizingly close to depicting is the emptiness of suburban lives, as the distance between people only allows them to watch each other, not connect.(There is one moment of dislocation that is probably more accidental than anything else.) However, none of that is as interesting as it sounds here, as the movie lacks anything in the way of well-defined characters.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

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Eric Mendelsohn

Director

Embeth Davidtz

The Actress

Edie Falco

Peggy

Elias Koteas

John

Rachel Resheff

Christina

Kathryn Erbe

John's Wife

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Synopsis

An executive (Elias Koteas), a housewife (Edie Falco) and a youngster (Rachel Resheff) spend a curious day in their suburban town.

Director: Eric Mendelsohn
Producer: Rocco Caruso, Amy Durning, Eric Mendelsohn
Screenwriter: Eric Mendelsohn
Distributor: Screen Media Films
Production Co: Caruso / Mendelsohn Productions
Rating: R (A Scene of Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 11, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 28, 2011
Runtime: 1h 27m