Acute Misfortune

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Acute Misfortune

2018

1h 30m

Drama

Biography

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Popcornmeter

93%

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14 Reviews

78%

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

A young journalist tasked with writing the biography of a renowned artist soon finds himself in a dependent and abusive relationship with his subject.

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Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

It's an uncompromising and complex film, a sort of horror movie about modern times.

Rated: 3.5/5

May 23, 2019

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Neil Young

The Hollywood Reporter

An artist biopic that swaggeringly busts the limitations of the well-worn subgenre, Acute Misfortune is one of the year's most striking and accomplished directorial debuts.

Aug 17, 2018

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Karl Quinn

The Age (Australia)

While Thomas M. Wright's adaptation of Jensen's memoir of the same name attempts to frame this as an encounter from which both gained, it never quite becomes explicable as anything other than a bully-victim relationship.

Aug 6, 2018

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Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

This tumultuous biopic is just as much about the journalist Jensen as it is about the great artist Cullen.

Rated: A-

Nov 20, 2020

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

...it has its own aesthetically stripped-down intensity, in addition to the emotional impact of a story whose torturing-tortured-artist center elicits both terror and pathos.

Nov 10, 2020

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Mark Dujsik

Mark Reviews Movies

Smartly, Wright doesn't play this material for horror or tragedy, although there is plenty of both...

Rated: 3/4

Nov 3, 2020

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john b

I'm torn about this one.It's an unusual story which I like .The writer is beautiful and there is a brief, hot love scene between him and his boyfriend.The artist is mentally unstable and he is on hard illegal drugs.Artist does unusual things, like accidentally shooting the writer.A troubling story,but worth a watch.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

12/18/24

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Audience Member

I actually didn't see this film and only read the very short book which was a difficult read. What the film trailer showed was HOT HOMOSEXUAL SEX! which the book stayed away from. The only mention of romance is Adam asking Erik to shower over and over again while being a stinky junky mess himself and rubbing poor Erik's thigh. Whether this was a romantic relationship, only Erik knows, but, the film looks like it blew this whole bit up. The ending of the book was about as cold as its introduction: Why would anyone want to write a book about Adam? Adam was cruel, he hated his mother, and in the end, he was no different than any other Atom in the universe, though he had to invent that myth for himself to keep working as an artist. Even I had a little bit more feeling than Erik did for Adam in the end, as Erik was using Adam to bring purpose to himself just as Adam looked to Erik to define himself. It was a need-need relationship, with Erik getting to bear witness. I'm not sure who had the harder go at such a relationship: The guy who pushes journalists off the back of his motorcycle, or the journalist willing to go on such wild rides? The book I received had a scratched out Bukowski quote inside the front cover which Adam attributed to himself "Endurance is more important than truth" which in just what a Chucky of the art world would steal for his own purpose. If anyone knew how to lie beautifully and endure, it was Bukowski.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Thomas Wright

Director

Daniel Henshall

Adam Cullen

Toby Wallace

Erik Jensen

Gillian Jones

Ruth Marr

Geneviève Lemon

Carmel Cullen

Max Cullen

Kevin Cullen

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Synopsis

A young journalist tasked with writing the biography of a renowned artist soon finds himself in a dependent and abusive relationship with his subject.

Director: Thomas Wright
Producer: Virginia Kay, Liz Kearney, Thomas Wright, Jamie Houge
Screenwriter: Erik Jensen, Thomas Wright, Erik Jensen
Production Co: Arenamedia
Genre: Drama, Biography
Original Language: Australian English
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 1, 2020
Runtime: 1h 30m

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