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The Inner Life of Martin Frost

2007 1h 33m Drama List
10% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 26% Audience Score 500+ Ratings
A novelist (David Thewlis) begins an affair with an ethereal woman (Irène Jacob) who is either a genuine muse or a con artist. Read More Read Less

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The Inner Life of Martin Frost

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Critics Reviews

View All (10) Critics Reviews
Matt Zoller Seitz New York Times The result plays like a half-baked tribute to Wings of Desire. Rated: 1.5/5 Sep 15, 2007 Full Review Ronnie Scheib Variety Strained dialogue, awkward mise-en-scene and weirdly uncomfortable thesping from superlative players contribute to a drearily self-reflective conceit. Sep 8, 2007 Full Review Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News Paul Auster's suffocating romance makes you feel as if you're helplessly stuck inside the head of the most pretentious person you know. Rated: 1.5/4 Sep 7, 2007 Full Review Christopher Null Filmcritic.com the conclusion comes across as tacked-on, padded to get the thing to feature length. That's an unfortunate way to wrap up an otherwise sweet little movie. Rated: 3/5 May 21, 2008 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews The film's magical qualities magically eluded me. Rated: C May 8, 2008 Full Review Shirley Sealy Film Journal International Thanks to the lumbering pace of Auster's script and the lugubrious way he directs this ostensible romantic fantasy, Martin and his muse fail, miserably, to amuse. Sep 7, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (36) audience reviews
Audience Member No me gustó del todo, de hecho creo que 2 estrellas y media es mucho. Sin fuerza, sin grandes actuaciones; hay conceptos entregados que simulan ser interesantes, pero que más da, al final se pierden en una historia sin pies ni cabeza. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member Martin Frost retreats to his friends' up-state cottage, and as a story comes upon him, he falls for a beautiful, mysterious woman. But when he finishes writing his story, she dies, and she miraculously comes back to life when he burns the only copy of the story. Together they must work out how to trick the hidden "muse gods" so that they can live together. This is the plot of <i>The Inner Life of Martin Frost</i>, and like most of Auster's plots, it sounds simple to the point of banal, magical to the point that it defies suspension of disbelief. But these criticisms underestimate the feeling of an Auster story. His work rises organically out of the characters, seemingly created by the characters instead of their author. And this is the point of the film. Do we create our lives, or are the events that shape us brought upon us? This theme is similar to his novel <i>The Travels in the Scriptorium</i>, which includes cameos by characters in his other books. Likewise, the film explores the relationship between an artist and his art. In <i>Smoke</i> Thomas responds to the story of Bakhtin smoking his book by saying, "No writer would do that." Apparently Martin Frost would. The question is would an artist sacrifice his art for his life? Auster says yes, but his eventual obsession with Claire and when he tries to turn her into art, we wonder if that "yes" is definitive. Not many people on Flixster, including critics, liked this film, but fans of Paul Auster's fiction and existential, allegorical stories will be like pigs in shit. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Audience Member A bit clunky... Michael Imperioli is very good in it, though. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought that it was beautiful. That kind of love is unreal. It was whimsical, sad, loveing, and happy all at once. David Thewlis was wonderful. I can't help but watching it over and over again. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member 8/10 - Curiosament acabava de llegir "Viajes por el Scriptorium" del mateix Paul Auster que també fa una metàfora sobre la creació artística (literària en aquest cas). L'artista i el seu món. I una encantador Irène Jacob Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/22/23 Full Review Audience Member A writer holed up alone in a country house to finish a book suddenly finds hes not alone when a strange woman appears. We are supposed to be curious who the woman is, where she came from and how she is influencing his story. Instead you think, what a load of intelectual, art house wank! Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Inner Life of Martin Frost

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Cast & Crew

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Movie Info

Synopsis A novelist (David Thewlis) begins an affair with an ethereal woman (Irène Jacob) who is either a genuine muse or a con artist.
Director
Paul Auster
Screenwriter
Paul Auster
Production Co
Tornasol Films S.A.
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Box Office (Gross USA)
$5.1K
Runtime
1h 33m
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