The Time Being

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The Time Being

2013

1h 28m

Mystery & Thriller

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Popcornmeter

28%

Tomatometer

18 Reviews

33%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

A mysterious millionaire (Frank Langella) hires a struggling artist (Wes Bentley) to carry out an odd series of film assignments.

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Randy Cordova

Arizona Republic

08/01/2013

1.5/5

A brittle, pompous drama about artists and the price they pay for inspiration.

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Odie Henderson

RogerEbert.com

07/26/2013

2/4

Director Nemad Cicin-Sain and co-writer Richard N. Gladstein are both guilty of serving up a totally empty, tonally confused meditation on the creative process.

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Lou Lumenick

New York Post

07/26/2013

1/4

"The Time Being'' looks sharp, but it's about as dramatically satisfying as watching paint dry.

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Debbie Lynn Elias

Behind The Lens

11/27/2019

With visual artistry at its finest, The Time Being is an emotionally heart-wrenching work that establishes Nenad Cicin-Sain as a visual storyteller.

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Nicholas Bell

IONCINEMA.com

08/22/2019

While trying to examine the difficulty of reconciling an artist's identity with the banality of everyday responsibilities, The Time Being wastes its potential on trite passages of dialogue and melodramatic flourishes.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

07/06/2016

3/4

There reaches a point... at which the film settles into a deliberately-paced yet completely watchable groove, with the emphasis on the relationship between the two men ensuring that The Time Being ultimately succeeds as a low-key drama.

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12/27/2020

I had hopes for a deeper film but te characters were not believable in their lack of emotion. subdued morose and sad

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03/20/2016

Beautifully shot pompous tedium. But you do get to spend time with Frank Langella, so there' s that.

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08/08/2015

good suspenser another lost review flixter!

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06/03/2014

Daniel (Wes Bentley - American Beauty) is an artist whose career has never really taken off and whose marriage is beginning to suffer as a result of this constant failure. He has had numerous gallery showings to no avail and his friend Eric (Corey Stoll - Midnight in Paris) has even bent over backwards to keep his struggling friend's work -- that won't sell -- in his gallery in hopes that he'll one day catch a break. When he sells one piece to a reclusive millionaire (Frank Langella - Robot & Frank), Daniel hopes this will lead to some profitable commissions that'll turn his career and marriage around. Daniel instead finds himself being sent on odd photography assignments around the city taking pictures of little children on playgrounds. Daniel isn't sure what to make of his new "work" and is even more unsure of what to make of old man Warner (Langella). The film is pretentiously arty -- are there any other kids about "struggling" artists?! -- and neither the artist nor the old man is someone you want to root for. I found them both to be rather insufferable as they are both the type of person who want those around them -- including the audience I guess -- to be as miserable as they are. The Time Being wants to be serious and high-brow and it believes its lingering shots of paintbrushes being cleaned in water is somehow profound. None of this is profound -- it is glib and self-important, the worst kind of art imaginable.

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10/20/2013

I think critics got this wrong. This is a great film.

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09/23/2013

Great movie! Whether you are an artist, art lover or not; this film draws many emotional components of family, love and life into a visual and dramatic journey.

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Nenad Cicin-Sain

Director

Wes Bentley

Daniel

Frank Langella

Warner Dax

Ahna O'Reilly

Olivia

Sarah Paulson

Sarah

Corey Stoll

Eric

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Synopsis

A mysterious millionaire (Frank Langella) hires a struggling artist (Wes Bentley) to carry out an odd series of film assignments.

Director: Nenad Cicin-Sain
Producer: Richard N. Gladstein
Screenwriter: Nenad Cicin-Sain, Richard N. Gladstein
Distributor: Tribeca Film
Production Co: FilmColony, Time Picture Company
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jul 26, 2013, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 7, 2014
Runtime: 1h 28m

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