Overall Rating Awesome: 15.79% Worth A Look: 52.63% Average: 8.77% Pretty Bad: 12.28% Total Crap: 10.53% 4 reviews, 33 user ratings

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Secret Lives of Dentists, The

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by Greg Muskewitz

"Pulling teeth."

Was the secret life of Steve Martin’s dentist in Novocaine not enough? Alan Rudolph’s dramedy of a harried family man/dentist who suspects his wife, a fellow dentist, of infidelity, has not much to say on any secrets of the dentistry profession, unless that was the point.

But whatever the point was, it failed to come across as much more than dull. Campbell Scott, sporting a moustache that grants him a totally new personality, is quite good as the suspicious dentist, resulting from the eloquence he carries from role to role (equally as effective here as in Roger Dodger, but for completely different reasons), as well as having a good amount of space to work in. His character, much more so than Hope Davis’ wife counterpart, is a less judged and less biased character, but the potency is abrogated by Rudolph’s indulgent pretension of including Scott’s personified conscience in the form of an obstreperous patient (Denis Leary). The highly detracting gimmick explicates and acknowledges a side of one’s inner-workings that are best left undisplayed if they are going to be exposed so casually, so stick figure-like, and coupled with the tiresome fantasy sequences of Scott (imagining his wife in a threesome with her assistant and patient), he comes around to look rather loony. But considering the fluster of his daily family life (those scenes that are best played out, nicely using children to actually act like children and not precocious mouthpieces), that wouldn’t be such a far off concept.

[Not to be bothered with.]

link directly to this review at http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=6820&reviewer=172
originally posted: 12/28/03 22:24:29

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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Sundance Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Sundance Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Philadelphia Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Sydney Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Sydney Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2003 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2003 San Francisco Film Festival. For more in the 2003 San Francisco Film Festival series, click here.

User Comments

6/26/09 robert petrie It's ok. 3 stars

8/17/06 j_movie_man Worst movie ever! so bad, i had to write a bad comment 1 stars

4/29/06 MRFLC A FINE INDIE EFFORT-REFRESHING! 5 stars

4/29/06 Scott HOW did they get those family scenes so REAL? A beautiful, subtle work, perfectly acted. 5 stars

5/11/05 jimm denna ddddddd 1 stars

5/11/05 Sully simply a horseshit movie. Acting was fine, writing blew. 1 stars

1/09/05 Sam Charming and entertaining 5 stars

8/02/04 Phil M. Aficionado There was something aggravating about it, sort of like a sore tooth. But well acted. 3 stars

3/16/04 Juli superb acting, makes u think 4 stars

11/08/03 john wonderful...family scenes supberb 5 stars

10/09/03 Lewis Sordid patient in the imagination of unlikeable dentist seeks to undermine his marriage 2 stars

9/22/03 Hank Great film. Didn't see the last 10 minutes due to lightning shutting down electricity 4 stars

9/21/03 Adrienne Very true to the way some dentists are--my Dad is one. Worth opening your mind to. 4 stars

9/15/03 Johnny Captivating and real, a thoughtful look into the passive aggresive mind 4 stars

9/11/03 carlmzapffe Typical view of dentists as miserably unhappy people 3 stars

9/10/03 Annette Bonder I loved it 4 stars

9/03/03 Nancy Markoff I found the moving boring, disturbing, pooring written, difficult to sit through, horrible. 1 stars

9/03/03 Jennifer we loved it 4 stars

9/01/03 s king He is pathetic as he races passively agressively through his boring life. She is absultlly 4 stars

8/31/03 Larry What crap!!...30 minutes of influenza and vomiting... 1 stars

8/27/03 shannon compelling, funny, very real and adult. amazing! 5 stars

8/27/03 Maria I have never seen a movie that has sucked so bad. There was no point in the whole movie! 1 stars

8/22/03 marvin sicherman actors + child actors fabulous, nice deep sometime funny portrayal of family life, 5 stars

8/21/03 Bob Klein Worth seeing. An adult movie, at last! 4 stars

8/20/03 =Paula= its got me thinking.... marriage might not be for me 3 stars

8/18/03 arthur appel interesting movie good story which is probably more common than not. 4 stars

8/06/03 patti cappell very provocative...dennis leary was hysterical! 5 stars

7/31/03 Mo Sack Dentistry Kubrick style 4 stars

7/31/03 Chris Concannon Double dose of reality 5 stars

7/31/03 Guadalupe Concannon Great movie 4 stars

7/27/03 Susan Kaplan Great performance by Campbell Scott 4 stars

7/02/03 Trent Windsor Amazing, Robin Tunney is absolutely stunning!!! 5 stars

5/01/03 Ralph R. Clemente I don't know - average 3 stars

IF YOU'VE SEEN THIS FILM, RATE IT!
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USA 01-Aug-2003 (R) DVD: 20-Jan-2004 UK N/A Australia 02-Dec-2003

Directed by Alan Rudolph Written by Craig Lucas Cast Campbell Scott Hope Davis Denis Leary Robin Tunney

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