The Loveless

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The Loveless

R

1983

1h 24m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

75%

Tomatometer

12 Reviews

60%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In the 1950s, a rich Southerner falls in love with a biker who's on his way to the Daytona racetracks.

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Geoff Andrew

Time Out

At times the perversely slow beat of each scene can irritate, but that's a reasonable price for the film's super-saturated atmosphere.

Jun 24, 2006

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Janet Maslin

New York Times

Its evocation of tough-guy glamour is ridiculously stilted. And it regards the past with absolutely no perspective or wit.

Rated: 1.5/5

May 14, 2005

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

It’s sleazy and stylish and filled with so much mid-century eye candy (especially for people who love diners).

Feb 13, 2024

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Filmmakers Bigelow and Montgomery, working from their own screenplay, deliver a meandering, uneventful drama that grows less and less interesting as it progresses...

Rated: 2/4

Feb 27, 2021

Full Review

Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

An acceptable turn by Willem Dafoe and nice photography by Doyle Smith are the only assets to this inert drama.

Rated: 1.5/4

Jul 20, 2019

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Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

An excoriation of Reagan-era nostalgia for the Fifties

Sep 25, 2009

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CodyZamboni Z

Movie has no plot, It's all style, With non stop 50's music, The 50's vibe and tough guy dialogue make it watchable.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/25

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david c

Watch on Criterion 8.5/10

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

The Wild Ones it ain't.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

It's a throwback to gang and biker flicks from the 50s. Dafoe is pretty solid here and I like the nihilism, but it's not as memorable as I was hoping for.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/07/20

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Audience Member

Kathryn Bigelow's film debut, conceived of and co-directed with fellow Columbia student Monty Montgomery, a future producer for David Lynch who plays the cowboy in "Mulholland Dr.". Willem Dafoe (in his film debut) stars as the leader of a bike gang travelling through the south to get to a stock car race. One of the bikes breaks down in a small town and the locals clash with the bikers. This sounds like an exploitation film, but it's more of an art film that bathes in the exploitation cool of the biker image (a bit like Kenneth Anger's "Scorpio Rising"). In a quite literal sense, nothing happens for a lot of the film as people stare at each other meaningfully. Nonetheless, I found it mesmerizing and it is vaguely reminiscent of a Lynch film with all of the weirdness distracted. Rockabilly musician Robert Gordon co-stars as a fellow biker and provides most of the score.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Audience Member

Intoxicating, compelling and sensual.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/14/23

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Kathryn Bigelow

Director

Monty Montgomery

Director

J. Don Ferguson

Tarver

Willem Dafoe

Vance

Robert Gordon

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Synopsis

In the 1950s, a rich Southerner falls in love with a biker who's on his way to the Daytona racetracks.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Monty Montgomery
Production Co: Pioneer Films
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 5, 2017
Runtime: 1h 24m

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