Personal Velocity: Three Portraits

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits is a 2002 American drama film written and directed by Rebecca Miller. It stars Kyra Sedgwick, Parker Posey, and Fairuza Balk as three women who escape from their afflicted lives as each struggle to flee from the men who confine their personal freedom.

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRebecca Miller
Written byRebecca Miller
Produced byAlexis Alexanian
Caroline Kaplan
Jonathan Sehring
John Sloss
StarringKyra Sedgwick
Parker Posey
Fairuza Balk
CinematographyEllen Kuras
Edited bySabine Hoffmann
Music byMichael Rohatyn
Production
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Distributed byMGM Distribution Co.
Release dates
  • January 12, 2002 (2002-01-12) (Sundance)
  • November 22, 2002 (2002-11-22) (United States)
Running time
86 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$125,000
Box office$811,299[1]

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 12, 2002, where it won the Grand Jury Prize and the Excellence in Cinematography Award. It was theatrically released in the United States on November 22, 2002 to positive reviews from critics. At the 18th Independent Spirit Awards, Miller won the John Cassavetes Award, while Posey was nominated for Best Female Lead, and Kuras was nominated for Best Cinematography.

Plot

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Personal Velocity is a tale of three women who have reached a turning point in their lives. Delia is a spirited, working-class woman from a small town in New York state who leaves her abusive husband and sets out on a journey to reclaim the power she has lost. Greta is a sharp, spunky editor who is rotten with ambition. To spite the hated unfaithful ways of her father, she has settled into a complacent relationship and is struggling (not too hard) with issues of fidelity to her kind but unexciting husband. Finally Paula, who ran away from home and got pregnant, is now in a relationship she doesn't want. She's a troubled young woman who takes off on a journey with a hitchhiker after a strange, fateful encounter on a New York street.

Cast

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Release

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Critical reception

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On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 69% based on 103 reviews, and an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critical consensus states that the film is an "uneven, but a keenly observed and well-acted film about three women's lives."[2] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 70 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[3]

Awards and nominations

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Award Category Recipient(s) Result
18th Independent Spirit Awards John Cassavetes Award Rebecca Miller Won
Best Female Lead Parker Posey Nominated
Best Cinematography Ellen Kuras Nominated
International Istanbul Film Festival Golden Tulip Rebecca Miller Nominated
Special Prize of the Jury Nominated
People's Choice Award Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Personal Velocity". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved Dec 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  3. ^ "Personal Velocity: Three Portraits Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
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Awards
Preceded by Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic
2002
Succeeded by