72
Metascore
8 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerChristian Science MonitorPeter RainerThis is a startlingly funny portrait of Gothic Americana.
- 80Film ThreatEric CamposFilm ThreatEric CamposPlagues & Pleasures is kinda like one of those travel videos, except it's offering you a vacation like you've never had before and it's not loaded with bulls---.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleJohn McMurtrieSan Francisco ChronicleJohn McMurtrieTo their credit, directors Chris Metzler and Jeff Springer, both of San Francisco, poke gentle fun at the locals without ridiculing them. The film's playful spirit is underscored by catchy steel-guitar melodies (courtesy of the Friends of Dean Martinez) that perfectly suit the bone-dry setting.
- 70Chicago ReaderFred CamperChicago ReaderFred CamperOccasionally lighthearted but always affecting cautionary tale.
- 70L.A. WeeklyL.A. WeeklyNarrated with surprising empathy by John Waters, is a historically thorough and thoroughly hysterical examination of the big, smelly desert lake's formation.
- Although ill-served by the lack of expert voices or elaboration on viable choices, Plagues and Pleasures is an often-fascinating document of change -- incremental as evaporation, or catastrophic as flooding.
- 63Chicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonChicago TribuneMichael WilmingtonThe late U.S. Rep. Sonny Bono and his widow and successor Mary Bono have spent a good deal of time trying to save it. It's a hard task, but the film does suggest there's more to the sea than meets the eye.
- 60VarietyVarietyJaunty and fun for a while, with a cast of colorful locals who make the residents of "Vernon, Florida" seem normal, pic ultimately overstays its welcome and overstates its case.