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Insignificance

Play trailer Poster for Insignificance R,  1985,  1h 50m,  Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist 73% 15 Reviews Tomatometer 65% 500+ Ratings Popcornmeter
73% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 65% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
One summer night in New York in 1953, a senator (Tony Curtis), a starlet (Theresa Russell) and her baseball-star husband (Michael Emil) end up in the hotel room of a physics professor (Gary Busey). They discuss sex, power, politics, physics, the atom bomb and their troubled childhoods. The characters are clearly based on Joseph McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein, and these icons are used to explore the history of postwar America, as well as its uncertain future.

Critics Reviews

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Tom Milne Sight & Sound Mar 24, 2020
[Insignificance] rolls along gathering momentum like some enigmatic ball, seemingly going nowhere yet arriving everywhere as it explodes in a shower of illumination. Go to Full Review
Adam Nayman The Ringer Nov 26, 2018
A true oddity even by the filmmaker's standards, it's a minor masterpiece of American counter-mythology, with the most comically apocalyptic finale since Dr. Strangelove. Go to Full Review
Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Jan 1, 2000
3/4
It's more of an acting and writing tour de force than a statement on sports, politics, sex symbols or relativity. Go to Full Review
Richard Ashford Starburst Jul 8, 2022
Although the film is an enjoyable journey, it is over terrain that has become too familiar. Go to Full Review
José Teodoro Cinema Scope Oct 13, 2017
... it's calculated misdirection with little in the way of greater purpose. Go to Full Review
James Kendrick Q Network Film Desk Jul 13, 2011
2.5/4
an intriguing, but ultimately slight "what if" fantasy Go to Full Review
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Insignificance

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Nicolas Roeg

Director

Michael Emil

The Professor

Theresa Russell

The Actress

Tony Curtis

The Senator

Gary Busey

The Ballplayer

Will Sampson

Elevator Attendant

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Insignificance

Insignificance (1985) Insignificance (1985) Insignificance (1985) Insignificance (1985) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis One summer night in New York in 1953, a senator (Tony Curtis), a starlet (Theresa Russell) and her baseball-star husband (Michael Emil) end up in the hotel room of a physics professor (Gary Busey). They discuss sex, power, politics, physics, the atom bomb and their troubled childhoods. The characters are clearly based on Joseph McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Albert Einstein, and these icons are used to explore the history of postwar America, as well as its uncertain future.
Director
Nicolas Roeg
Producer
Jeremy Thomas
Screenwriter
Terry Johnson
Distributor
Island Alive
Production Co
Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Zenith Entertainment
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Aug 2, 1985, Original
Release Date (DVD)
Jun 14, 2011
Runtime
1h 50m
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