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Insignificance

Play trailer Poster for Insignificance R 1985 1h 50m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
One summer night in New York in 1953, a senator (Tony Curtis), a starlet (Theresa Russell) and her baseball-star husband (Michael Emil) end up in the hotel room of a physics professor (Gary Busey). They discuss sex, power, politics, physics, the atom bomb and their troubled childhoods. The characters are clearly based on Joseph McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein, and these icons are used to explore the history of postwar America, as well as its uncertain future.

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Insignificance

Critics Reviews

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Tom Milne Sight & Sound 03/24/2020
[Insignificance] rolls along gathering momentum like some enigmatic ball, seemingly going nowhere yet arriving everywhere as it explodes in a shower of illumination. Go to Full Review
Adam Nayman The Ringer 11/26/2018
A true oddity even by the filmmaker's standards, it's a minor masterpiece of American counter-mythology, with the most comically apocalyptic finale since Dr. Strangelove. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times 01/01/2000
3/4
It's more of an acting and writing tour de force than a statement on sports, politics, sex symbols or relativity. Go to Full Review
Richard Ashford Starburst 07/08/2022
Although the film is an enjoyable journey, it is over terrain that has become too familiar. Go to Full Review
José Teodoro Cinema Scope 10/13/2017
... it's calculated misdirection with little in the way of greater purpose. Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk 07/13/2011
2.5/4
an intriguing, but ultimately slight "what if" fantasy Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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10/20/2020 I could not sit through this movie. A very unfunny comedy. See more ashley h @ashleyhobgood87 08/19/2020 Insignificance is a funny film. It is about four 1950s icons who meet in the same hotel room. Gary Busey and Tony Curtis give fantastic performances. The screenplay is good but a little slow in places. Nicolas Roeg did a great job directing this movie. I enjoyed watching this motion picture because of the humor. Insignificance is a must see. See more 07/28/2019 Curiosa premisa a mayor gloria de Theresa Rusell. See more 10/03/2015 Insignificance is an interesting and talky film: part comical, part intellectual, just a bit tragic. It has some upfront symbolism, which may add value if you get it or may irritate you. While it does not really feel much at all like Bunuel films in terms of vibe, it is reminiscent in that it digests human culture through a comical dream play. The performance of Theresa Russell as "The Actress" stands out, she plays her character with a combination of winking intrigue and stoicism. How much of life is an act? How much is play? How much and what should be taken seriously? The character interactions feel at times authentic (or at least sincere), at times spontaneous, but then falling into stereotype. Anyhow, this is the type of film where your enjoyment of it will be largely based on how much you get it (there is not enough else in the film to be appreciated by itself). For myself, I understood it somewhat and enjoyed it somewhat. See more 03/07/2015 about on par with every other Roeg movie I've seen See more 03/06/2015 Loved the opening sequence and music, but it fell into uninteresting caricature and annoying blandness. Blah. See more Read all reviews
Insignificance

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Movie Info

Synopsis One summer night in New York in 1953, a senator (Tony Curtis), a starlet (Theresa Russell) and her baseball-star husband (Michael Emil) end up in the hotel room of a physics professor (Gary Busey). They discuss sex, power, politics, physics, the atom bomb and their troubled childhoods. The characters are clearly based on Joseph McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein, and these icons are used to explore the history of postwar America, as well as its uncertain future.
Director
Nicolas Roeg
Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter
Terry Johnson
Distributor
Island Alive
Production Co
Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Zenith Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 2, 1985, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 14, 2011
Runtime
1h 50m
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