Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Putty Hill

Play trailer Poster for Putty Hill Released Feb 18, 2011 1h 27m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
74% Tomatometer 34 Reviews 53% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
Friends and family of Cory, a young man who has died of an overdose, gather at a Baltimore-area karaoke bar for his wake and compare stories about him. Gradually, as it becomes clear that there are many holes in their recollections about Cory, they fill in the blanks by talking about things that reveal aspects of their own lives. Among those mourning him and searching for meaning are his cousin Jenny (Sky Ferreira), his sister Zoe (Zoe Vance) and his brother James (James Siebor).

Critics Reviews

View All (34) Critics Reviews
Ronnie Scheib Variety This curious blend of documentary and narrative, held together less by any plot device than by a rigorous aesthetic, proves all the more effective for being in service of casual naturalism. Aug 8, 2011 Full Review Peter Brunette The Hollywood Reporter Points must be awarded for nerve, but virtually every aspect of this misbegotten film misfires. Aug 8, 2011 Full Review Derek Malcolm London Evening Standard The originality here lies in the fact that the unseen director, Matt Porterfield, armed with his camera, asks them about their feelings. Jun 17, 2011 Full Review CJ Sheu Review Film Review [D]etails grow fuzzy in the mind as the characters multiply, until what's left is what Porterfield wanted all along: a portrait of the community. Jul 1, 2020 Full Review Mattie Lucas From the Front Row An abstract kind of putting on airs that immediately sets the audience against it. Rated: 1.5/4 Aug 5, 2019 Full Review Sarah Manvel Critic's Notebook It's a movie that never comes close to its real potential. Aug 9, 2018 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (21) audience reviews
Audience Member A remarkable and powerful film, all the more effective for what it withholds as for what it shows. Perhaps the closest I've ever seen a traditional film come to cinema verite. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member This film is as remarkable as it is bleak. There are very few films which tell it like it is but this is one of them. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member Strange documentary-style movie. Worth a rental...I guess. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member A compelling film that blends narrative and documentary film-making to create a portrait of a community on the outskirts of Baltimore dealing with the death of one of their own. The film takes a very deep look into these various people's lives and gives a unique, genuine view point into the community. Speaking to the youth of the area, Putty Hill perfectly captures the disenfranchised youth of America through having these people open up about their feelings and attitudes, while showing how their lives lack any true focus and how this boy's death almost feels meaning less in these youth who lack serious focus on doing something with there lives. Its a lyrical, poetic film that is once again rather hard to really explain, but should definitely be experienced. In a time where mumble-core films define the true indie genre, this film puts almost all of them to absolute shame. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member Complete and total crap. A beautifully realized portrait, my ass - my 12-year old kid has made better movies than this overblown drivel. This movie was so slow and boring, it still had no pacing, even though I played it at 2x speed. Bad acting, poor sound, useless dialog and no plot. 97 mins you'll wish you had back, you've been warned. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member I wanted so to like this movie. Being from Baltimore, and having grown up in a social milieu not very dissimilar from the characters created by Porterfield, I was prepared to give it more than the benefit of the doubt. But it was so poorly acted, the narrative so confused, and filmmaking so naively and obviously straining to be arty, I could only cringe. Worst of all, though, is that at heart PUTTY HILL is a tedious morality tale that imagines its insights to be original and provocative. There is an ugly hint of contempt. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Putty Hill

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Rabbit Hole 86% 72% Rabbit Hole Watchlist Reunion 19% 33% Reunion Watchlist Restless 36% 48% Restless Watchlist Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close 44% 61% Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Watchlist Answers to Nothing 9% 36% Answers to Nothing Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis Friends and family of Cory, a young man who has died of an overdose, gather at a Baltimore-area karaoke bar for his wake and compare stories about him. Gradually, as it becomes clear that there are many holes in their recollections about Cory, they fill in the blanks by talking about things that reveal aspects of their own lives. Among those mourning him and searching for meaning are his cousin Jenny (Sky Ferreira), his sister Zoe (Zoe Vance) and his brother James (James Siebor).
Director
Matt Porterfield
Producer
Eric Bannat, Steve Holmgren, Joyce Kim, Jordan Mintzer
Screenwriter
Jordan Mintzer, Matt Porterfield
Distributor
Cinema Guild
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 18, 2011, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$48.1K
Runtime
1h 27m