74
Metascore
7 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 83The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayWelcome To Pine Hill is a short, docu-realistic film, with very little plot and scenes that play like loose improvisations. Miller is mainly interested in the various spaces Harper inhabits, and how he inhabits them.
- 80Time OutEric HynesTime OutEric HynesMiller’s ace in the hole is the hulking, regal Harper, whose round face vacillates between childlike mirth and lung-stomping sadness. His casual charisma not only commands our attention and affection, it sidelines every social or thematic concern to this singular, tentatively aspiring life.
- 80The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. Scott[Mr. Miller's] film shows the influence of other recent work in the American neo-neo-realist vein, notably Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye, Solo” and Lance Hammer’s “Ballast,” and like them relies on understatement and indirection to arrive at a powerful and resonant meaning.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceAt times the improvised dialogue seems too schematic and superfluous, especially in view of such exploratory and observant handheld camera work. Otherwise, though, this is wonderful stuff.
- Mixes real-life situations and characters with fictionalized narrative threads to create a highly authentic slice-of-life drama.
- 67The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezWhile far from perfect, Welcome To Pine Hill works more often than it doesn’t and is an intimate and existential character study of a man out of place with his past, himself, and his surroundings, and the push and pull of former and future worlds beckoning him.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineKeith Miller doesn't always trust the fluency of his visual language, occasionally forcing a point that's already being captured.