Tape (film)

2001 film by Richard Linklater

Tape

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Richard Linklater
Screenplay by| Stephen Belber
Based on| Tape
by Stephen Belber
Produced by| Gary Winick
Anne Walker-McBay
Alexis Alexanian
Starring| Ethan Hawke
Robert Sean Leonard
Uma Thurman
Cinematography| Maryse Alberti
Edited by| Sandra Adair

Production
company

Tape Productions

Distributed by| Lions Gate Films

Release dates

* January 26, 2001 (2001-01-26) (Sundance)
* November 2, 2001 (2001-11-02)

Running time

| 86 minutes[1]
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $100,000[2]
Box office| $515,900[3]

Tape is a 2001 American camcorder 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.[4]

## Plot[edit]

The entire film is set inside a Lansing, Michigan motel room. Vince, a drug dealer and volunteer firefighter who lives in Oakland, California, rents the room in his hometown to support his old high school friend's entry into the Lansing Film Festival.

His friend, documentary filmmaker Jon Salter, joins Vince in his motel room and the two reminisce about their high school years. At first, the two are happy to see one another, but friction soon develops. Eventually, they get on the subject of Amy, Vince's former girlfriend. It appears that, while they dated for some time, Vince and Amy never had sex. However, after or at the point when 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. 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.

Jon asks Amy's forgiveness for raping her, but Amy claims that the encounter was consensual, leading Jon to believe that she is in denial or is toying with him. After Jon becomes annoyed that Amy is refusing to accept his apology, Amy calls the police. She asks for a squad car to pick up one person in possession of drugs (Vince), and one for “sexual misconduct” (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. Soon after, Amy reveals that she didn't really call the police and leaves.

## Cast[edit]

* Ethan Hawke as Vince
* Robert Sean Leonard as Jon Salter
* Uma Thurman as Amy Randall

## Critical reception[edit]

The reviews of the film have been generally favorable; it currently holds a 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 100 collected reviews, the critical consensus reads: "Tape's stagebound feel is balanced by the engrossing psychodrama of its storyline, which allows a committed cast to shine."[5] It has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100 on Metacritic.[6]

Film critic Roger Ebert said "Tape made me believe that its events could happen to real people more or less as they appear on the screen, and that is its most difficult accomplishment" and gave this film three and a half out of four stars, concluding that "for audiences they are stimulating; for other filmmakers, instruction manuals about how to use the tricky new tools."[7]

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".[8]

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."[9]

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Tape (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2001-12-24. Retrieved 2013-05-06.
2. ^ "10 Awesome Movies That Cost Nothing To Make". WhatCulture. March 8, 2020.
3. ^ "Tape (2001)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
4. ^ "10 great films set in one location". BFI. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
5. ^ "Tape Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
6. ^ "Tape reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
7. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 16, 2001). "Tape". Chicago Sun-Times. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved October 19, 2009.
8. ^ Holden, Stephen (October 2, 2001). "FILM REVIEW; Cacophony In Three Parts". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved January 23, 2010.
9. ^ Gleiberman, Owen (November 2, 2001). "Tape". Entertainment Weekly. New York City: Meredith Corporation. Retrieved January 23, 2010.

## External links[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Tape (film).

* Tape at IMDb
* Tape at Box Office Mojo
* Tape at Rotten Tomatoes
* Tape at Metacritic

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Richard Linklater

* It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988)
* Slacker (1990)
* Dazed and Confused (1993)
* Before Sunrise (1995)
* SubUrbia (1996)
* The Newton Boys (1998)
* Waking Life (2001)
* Tape (2001)
* School of Rock (2003)
* Before Sunset (2004)
* Bad News Bears (2005)
* A Scanner Darkly (2006)
* Fast Food Nation (2006)
* Me and Orson Welles (2008)
* Bernie (2011)
* Before Midnight (2013)
* Boyhood (2014)
* Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)
* Last Flag Flying (2017)
* Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2019)
* Apollo 10 1⁄2: A Space Age Childhood (2022)
* Hit Man (2023)
* Merrily We Roll Along (TBA)

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