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The Business of Fancydancing

Play trailer 1:56 Poster for The Business of Fancydancing 2002 1h 43m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
59% Tomatometer 29 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Since their high school graduation, former Spokane Reservation best friends Seymour (Evan Adams, Smoke Signals) and Aristotle (Gene Tagaban) have taken different paths. Both ventured off to college in Seattle, but while Seymour embraced the opportunities of the white world, Aristotle returned home embittered. Sixteen years later, they are brought together following the sudden death of an old childhood buddy. Seymour, now an openly gay poet and unofficial spokesman for Native American, is met with resentment on "the rez." As the wake, tensions are heightened, and Aristotle's long-festering bitterness is dangerously exposed.

Critics Reviews

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Janice Page Boston Globe 11/27/2002
2.5/4
Feels a bit like a racy after-school special. Go to Full Review
David Hunter The Hollywood Reporter 10/25/2002
Where it goes wrong is in the combination of poetic sensibilities and run-of-the-mill narrative cinema. Go to Full Review
Kevin Thomas Los Angeles Times 10/24/2002
3.5/5
It bristles with a passion and intelligence too intense to allow the film's style to seem pretentious. Go to Full Review
Film Threat 12/06/2005
4.5/5
Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com 10/01/2005
2/5
Luke Y. Thompson New Times 10/09/2003
...laudable, if occasionally muddled and overlong... Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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10/26/2012 There was a lot of bad acting that was exasperated by the extremely low budget and dialogue that at many times far too poetic for the types of characters and situations being presented to the viewer. See more 04/17/2012 I liked it. I've often pondered the whole,"Big fish in a little pond, or small fish in a big pond" question. And even the question about cross-cultural acceptance. Do I want to move to this place and be mostly the image of what they think I should be and play their song and dance for them, or I should I just say "fuck you and keep your damn culture. I don't want to be somewhere that I'm only seen for What I am and not who I am." I still haven't decided, but I have my suspicions that I'll end up just like Seymour. The martyr/outcast on one end and the selfish traitor on the other. As for the pond question- if it's toxic, leave. You gotta be a happy fish. See more 10/21/2009 I realy liked a few bits but on a whole i didnt love it. See more 03/26/2009 I've recently been devouring any/all Sherman Alexie books I can get my hands on and loving them as well as the film 'Smoke Signals' which he wrote but did not direct. I went into this film, with Alexie making his directorial debut, expecting to love it just the same but his lack of experience in this area definitely shows and drags the movie down. The pacing is poor, most of the inexperienced actors were bland (and so likely not directed well), and, worst of all, the story's non-linear structure was completely arbitrary. Don't get me wrong, I love the whole non-linear storytelling method more often than not, but when a story really isn't complex in any way it doesn't call for that. I think the movie on a whole would have been better if it had been done in a basic point a to point b progression. It does still have its strengths, however. Alexie's writing is still spot on even if the delivery of it by the actors is often lacking and Evan Adams (from Smoke Signals) gives another great performance. All in all, however, I'd recommend avoiding the film unless you're an aficionado of Alexie's work or are deeply interested in contemporary Native American culture. See more 02/14/2009 Touching and thought provoking. Evan Adam shines in this film. To me this film is about the saying You can't go home again well sometimes you can but it is never the way you left it in the first place. See more 01/15/2009 An adventerous experiment that works more often than not, this movie plays fast and loose with chronology, format and setting. It is difficult at times to determine if everything in it is actually happening, but that isn't because it is particualrly surreal - Just an experiment. And the story itself is told quite well in these snippets, these snapshots. I found the cast to be quite tight and the overall narative to be pretty dynamic, although there are some moments of self - indulgent or over rightiousness - I think he does a good job of making every character human and drawing them out pretty fully. This movie rewards multiple viewings, and in fact may require them to make sense of it all. See more Read all reviews
The Business of Fancydancing

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Movie Info

Synopsis Since their high school graduation, former Spokane Reservation best friends Seymour (Evan Adams, Smoke Signals) and Aristotle (Gene Tagaban) have taken different paths. Both ventured off to college in Seattle, but while Seymour embraced the opportunities of the white world, Aristotle returned home embittered. Sixteen years later, they are brought together following the sudden death of an old childhood buddy. Seymour, now an openly gay poet and unofficial spokesman for Native American, is met with resentment on "the rez." As the wake, tensions are heightened, and Aristotle's long-festering bitterness is dangerously exposed.
Director
Sherman Alexie
Producer
Larry Estes, Scott M. Rosenfelt
Screenwriter
Sherman Alexie
Production Co
FallsApart Productions
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 10, 2002, Limited
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Nov 14, 2025
Box Office (Gross USA)
$4.1K
Runtime
1h 43m
Sound Mix
Stereo