Matinee

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1:56

Matinee

PG

Released Jan 29, 1993

1h 39m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

93%

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42 Reviews

63%

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5,000+ Ratings

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurs and the menace of nuclear war looms over the American South. Low-budget filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) is in Key West, Fla., debuting his new film "Mant!" and thinks the prevailing mood of fear surrounding the premiere is perfect to stir up some excitement. A group of local teenagers (Simon Fenton, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin) prepare for the film's opening night, experiencing small crises of their own.

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Critics Consensus

Smart, funny, and disarmingly sweet, Matinee is a film that film buffs will love -- and might even convert some non-believers.

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Sara Michelle Fetters

MovieFreak.com

Love. Laugh. Shriek. Cry. Make every second count. Most of all, live. The life lessons Dante was imparting 30 years ago are as vital now as they ever were then, making Matinee a modern classic ripe for rediscovery.

Rated: 4/4

Feb 24, 2023

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Peter Stack

San Francisco Chronicle

John Goodman is delightful in this sweetly amusing '60s-era comedy... Despite some incoherence in the plot, the film is genuinely charming and generous with its humor.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 11, 2023

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Jonathan Rosenbaum

Chicago Reader

The glory of Dante’s comedy in this movie and others–as aided and abetted by his usual production team, producer Michael Finnell, cinematographer John Hora, and screenwriter Charlie Haas–is that it suggests poetic parallels without insisting on them.

Rated: 3/4

Jun 2, 2022

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Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

"Matinee" is a fun time. But when you couple such a resolutely uncommercial idea with a filmmaker whose résumé illustrated clear disinterest in compromising his idiosyncratic paranoia, you might wish the film leaned a little harder into its nuclear wind.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 30, 2023

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Diane Carson

KDHX (St. Louis)

Throughout Matinee, director Dante delivers this retro 60s world in a thoroughly entertaining, brisk 99 minutes.

Jan 19, 2023

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Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

When Woolsey loses himself in one of his many speeches about the power of movies, the importance of escape, and the joy it brings him to realize these notions for his audience, we sense this is exactly how Dante feels, and that joy is instantly catching.

Rated: 4/4

Sep 21, 2022

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Richard W

A well-acted, very entertaining film.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/24

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Alec B

A complex and hilarious nostalgia piece. I love the "Mant" sequences which are perfectly goofy.

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/10/24

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Joel H

Matinee felt more like a coming attraction preview than an actual movie. I was surprised when I realized the movie was almost over and nothing had really happened yet. And then, when things finally started happening, it didn't quite feel like enough to justify an entire movie. Perhaps Joe Dante was just looking to create a sense of nostalgia for those who were kids during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Or maybe this was a love letter to the sensational tricks people used to pull to get audiences back in the theaters after televisions became common. Either way, I kind of liked the fake films more than the actual one.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

11/03/23

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S R

A coming of age movie that I had hopes for, it just came across as fake. Saw on TCM.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

07/08/23

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Dave S

In Matinee, director Joe Dante pays loving tribute to the low-budget monster movie of the 1950s and early 60s. Set in the Florida Keys at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, movie mogul Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman), a cross between the gimmicky William Castle and exploitation master Samuel Z. Arkoff, arrives in town with his latest film in tow, Mant, the story of a monster who is half ant and half human. Despite the fact that Matinee is short on both laughs and plot, it is a lot of silly and colorful fun, especially for those whose guilty pleasures are titles like The Amazing Colossal Man and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/23/23

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R 9

A bore! John Goodman almost saves 'Matinee', he's good, but not quite. I personally didn't care for the characters of Key West and their stories, especially the parts with those portrayed by Kellie Martin, Omri Katz and James Villemaire. The story shoots off into quite a few directions, but I was genuinely not into any of it apart from the scenes with Goodman's Woolsey. The 'film within a film', 'Mant!', is great though - it actually amused me a fair bit, which was a stark contrast to what the real comedy (or lack thereof) achieved. I appreciate what it was going for, but I just didn't dig the vast majority of it unfortunately.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

05/22/23

Full Review

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Joe Dante

Director

John Goodman

Lawrence Woolsey

Cathy Moriarty

Ruth Corday

Simon Fenton

Gene Loomis

Omri Katz

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Matinee: Trailer 1

1:56

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Synopsis

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis occurs and the menace of nuclear war looms over the American South. Low-budget filmmaker Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) is in Key West, Fla., debuting his new film "Mant!" and thinks the prevailing mood of fear surrounding the premiere is perfect to stir up some excitement. A group of local teenagers (Simon Fenton, Lisa Jakub, Kellie Martin) prepare for the film's opening night, experiencing small crises of their own.

Director: Joe Dante
Producer: Michael Finnell
Screenwriter: Charles S. Haas
Production Co: Universal Pictures, Renfield Productions
Rating: PG
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 29, 1993, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 19, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $8.9M
Runtime: 1h 39m
Sound Mix: Surround

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