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Parents' Guide to

Pawn Shop Chronicles

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Pulp Fiction-inspired nastiness full of drugs and violence.

Movie R 2013 112 minutes
Pawn Shop Chronicles Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

So the movie is crazy and agitated and loud and full of left turns -- and, yes, over-the-top -- but these things don't add up to anything that could be called a good movie. There are a couple of shock-based laughs early on, but then the laughs dry up, as do the thrills and the tingles. It's just horrifying and soul-deadening. All of that said, D'Onofrio gives a very interesting performance as the slightly befuddled pawn shop proprietor. Director Wayne Kramer once tried to make an insanely over-the-top action movie, Running Scared (also starring Walker), which many admired for its sheer over-the-topness. But then Kramer detoured for the completely earnest (and awful) immigration drama Crossing Over, which proves a point: Kramer isn't going over the top for any honest, organic reason but rather as a cold, calculated exercise. It's the same with PAWN SHOP CHRONICLES, though this time he and screenwriter Adam Minarovich very obviously draw their empty inspiration from Pulp Fiction.

Movie Details

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