Solomon and Tummler are two teenagers killing time in Xenia, Ohio, a small town that has never recovered from the tornado that ravaged the community in the 1970s.
Korine's objective is so narrow and mean, and his viewpoint so colored by smug, adolescent condescension, that Gummo comes off like a mean-spirited prank.
– Edward Guthmann,
San Francisco Chronicle,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
No conceivable competition [this year] will match the sourness, cynicism and pretension of Korine's debut feature.
– Janet Maslin,
New York Times,
1 Jan 2000
rotten:
In real life, this town was devastated by a tornado 20 years ago. According to Korine's version of things, it never recovered.
– Liam Lacey,
Globe and Mail,
12 Apr 2002
rotten:
C'mon, Harmony. Mano a boyo. What are you really trying to prove here?
– Paul Tatara,
CNN.com,
28 Apr 2008
rotten:
Enfant terrible Harmony Korine makes a bizarre, idiosyncratic directing debut with his uncompromising look at youth alientaion in Middle-America, whose downbeat tone and off-putting imagery should appeal to small minority of viewers.