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Weeds

Play trailer Poster for Weeds R 1987 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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71% Tomatometer 7 Reviews 54% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
After his many suicide attempts are thwarted, San Quentin lifer Lee Umstetter (Nick Nolte) finds his personal redemption when a traveling theater group stages a performance at the prison. Motivated to write and direct his own play with his fellow prisoners, Lee is discovered by a sympathetic newspaper critic (Rita Taggart), whose advocacy leads to his release. Forming his own theater troupe with other former inmates, Lee finds that life on the outside isn't as easy as he had expected.

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Weeds tells a story as old as the movies -- the rags-to-riches saga of a troupe of theatrical amateurs who bring their show to Broadway -- but it tells it with such a distinctive style, such a curious mixture of pathos and offhand wit, that it works. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Michael Bronski Gay Community News (Boston) The trouble with the film is that it cannot decide how seriously to address the realities of prison life and its effects upon the men. Aug 30, 2022 Full Review Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Its so atypical, so idiosyncratic, so abnormal that it's to be respected for its audacity to stand out, and come out with a result completely contrary to what the spectator expected. [Full review in Spanish] Jun 14, 2022 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: B Jun 15, 2005 Full Review Carol Cling Las Vegas Review-Journal Rated: 4/5 Aug 22, 2003 Full Review Philip Martin Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Rated: 2/5 Jul 26, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (7) audience reviews
steve d The performances are the only thing I cared about. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member San Quentin prisoner writes play and gets paroled with help of local film critic before taking his show on the road on the outside with the original prison cast. Decent enough, has the feel of a film the critics will enjoy more than the average audience. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Audience Member Liberal bullshit -- much? Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Weeds (John D. Hancock, 1987) [originally posted 22Feb2000] Rent. Go rent now. You've all heard me expound on my theory that every bad actor gets one good movie? This is Nick Nolte's. For once, his scenery-chewing doesn't detract from the film. To help him out, Hancock put together a really good ensemble cast of rising stars, most of whose stars have now long risen (Ernie Hudson, William Forsythe, Joe Mantegna, Lane Smith, et al.). If you can buy the basic premise (and I think it's based on a true story, so that shouldn't be terribly hard), it's a hell of an enjoyable film. *** 1/2 Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I got a kick out of it Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/23/23 Full Review Audience Member good prison movie!!! Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Weeds

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Weeds

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Movie Info

Synopsis After his many suicide attempts are thwarted, San Quentin lifer Lee Umstetter (Nick Nolte) finds his personal redemption when a traveling theater group stages a performance at the prison. Motivated to write and direct his own play with his fellow prisoners, Lee is discovered by a sympathetic newspaper critic (Rita Taggart), whose advocacy leads to his release. Forming his own theater troupe with other former inmates, Lee finds that life on the outside isn't as easy as he had expected.
Director
John D. Hancock
Rating
R
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.5M
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Stereo, Surround