Release and Reception
Following the film's release in Venice, it hit Los Angeles, playing at a single cinema from mid-October to early November 1999, grossing a total of $80,226 on a single screen. Critical reaction to the film was mixed, with much of it being negative.
Empire Magazine said that "Despite some creditable performances, Korine's bizarre, shambling direction renders the result less ground-breakingly experimental than rectum-numbingly dull." Edward Guthmann of the San Francisco Chronicle called the film "A self-indulgent mess."
Despite a sense of negative reaction to the film, it was praised by some critics. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review, saying the film attained a "depth of compassion and understanding ... acquires a spiritual dimension that allows it ultimately to become an act of redemption". Additional praise for the film came from Chicago Sun Times film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the film 3/4 stars, saying that " adds up to something, unlike a lot of movies where individual shots are sensational, but they add up to nothing"; Ebert did, however, note that the film had a very limited audience: "The odds are good that most people will dislike this film and be offended by it. For others, it will provoke sympathy rather than scorn. You know who you are".
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