Tape (film)

Tape
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Richard Linklater
Produced by	Gary Winick Anne Walker-McBay Alexis Alexanian
Screenplay by	Stephen Belber
Based on	Tape by Stephen Belber
Starring	Ethan Hawke Robert Sean Leonard Uma Thurman
Cinematography	Maryse Alberti
Editing by	Sandra Adair
Studio	Tape Productions
Distributed by	Lionsgate
Release date(s)	January 26, 2001 (2001-01-26) (Sundance) November 2, 2001 (2001-11-02) (United States, limited)
Running time	86 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$490,475

Tape is a 2001 drama film directed by Richard Linklater and written by Stephen Belber, based on his play of the same name. It stars Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Uma Thurman. The entire film takes place in real-time.

Plot

In a motel room in Lansing, Michigan. Vince (Hawke), a drug dealer/volunteer firefighter from Oakland, is in town to support his old high school friend's entry into the Lansing film festival.

His friend, documentary filmmaker Jon Salter (Leonard), joins Vince in his motel room and the two reminisce about their high school years. They get on the subject of Amy (Thurman), Vince's former girlfriend. It appears that, while they dated for some time, Vince and Amy never had sex. However, after their relationship had ended, Amy slept with Jon.

Vince claims Amy had told him that Jon had raped her. Vince becomes obsessed with, and eventually succeeds in getting a verbal confession from Jon about, the alleged rape. Immediately after Jon's admission, Vince pulls out a hidden tape recorder that had been recording their whole conversation, much to Jon's horror. Vince then tells Jon that he has invited Amy to dinner, and that she will be arriving shortly.

Eventually Amy does arrive and, even though all three of them feel awkward, they begin to talk. Amy explains that she is now an assistant district attorney in the Lansing Justice Department. Eventually the three discuss what actually happened between Jon and Amy that night at the party, 10 years in the past.

Eventually, Jon asks Amy's forgiveness for raping her. Amy claims that the encounter was consensual, however, leading Jon to believe that she is in denial. After Jon becomes annoyed that Amy is refusing to accept his apology, Amy calls the local police. She asks for a squad car to pick up one person in possession of drugs (Vince), and one in relation to a verifiable rape (Jon). After concluding her phone call, Amy warns the men that they only have about four minutes to make a run for it.

In order to prove to Amy that he is truly remorseful, Jon decides to stay and wait for the police. Vince, realizing that there is nowhere for him to run, flushes his narcotics down the toilet and destroys the tape containing Jon's confession.

Amy reveals that she didn't really call the police and leaves.

Critical reception

The reviews of this film have been generally favorable. It currently holds a 76% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 89 collected reviews, as well as a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 on Metacritic.

Film critic Roger Ebert gave this film 3.5 stars out of 4, concluding that "for audiences they are stimulating; for other filmmakers, instruction manuals about how to use the tricky new tools." Stephen Holden of The New York Times called the film "incisive" and praised the cast for giving "the most psychologically acute performances of their film careers". Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman gave the film an A- and wrote "in Tape, Ethan Hawke releases his inner actor, and it's a kick to see."

External links

• Tape at the Internet Movie Database
• Tape at Metacritic
• Tape at Rotten Tomatoes