60
Metascore
6 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoAs a one-time suburbanite now living happily in Manhattan, I can attest that Radiant City tells it like it is. The film ends with a surprise that you won't see coming and I won't spoil.
- 75TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghTV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonaghJim Brown and Gary Burns hang a powerful antisuburban diatribe in the form of statistics, expert opinions and pictures worth a thousand words on the experiences of the Moss family.
- 70VarietyKen EisnerVarietyKen EisnerIn the end, helmers have some nifty tricks up their verite sleeves.
- 70Village VoiceVillage VoiceEnlightening and disturbingly funny.
- The cinematographer Patrick McLaughlin's eerie, sometimes monumental images italicize the experts' statements, making the suburbs seem like an asphalt-and-Sheetrock dreamscape where democracy goes to die.
- 33The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe faux-documentary aspect of Radiant City is a huge gamble that doesn't pay off. If anything, the movie's observations about the corrupting social influence of cluttered mall spaces get undercut by the fact that Burns and Brown feel the need to INVENT characters to prove their truth.