A Place at the Table
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: March 1, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierFeb 28, 2013
As important and eye-opening a documentary as you’ll see this year, A Place at the Table makes it impossible to think of hunger as merely another symptom of a shredded social safety net. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinFeb 28, 2013
The filmmakers vividly illustrate the power and depth of the long-spiraling problem of "food insecurity" by immersing us in the hardscrabble lives of a cross section of our nation's poor. Read full review
88
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanFeb 28, 2013
The problem, as “Table” shows, isn’t that the next meal never comes. It’s that when it arrives, too often it is filled with empty calories. Read full review
83
Film.comStephanie ZacharekMar 1, 2013
A Place at the Table is a fairly no-frills effort, but the ideas behind it are sound. Read full review
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerMar 1, 2013
One thing is clear from A Place at the Table: You cannot answer the question “Why are people hungry?,” without also asking “Why are people poor?” Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenApr 4, 2013
Says the actor Jeff Bridges, a long-time and articulate soldier in the campaign against hunger: “It’s a problem that our government is ashamed of acknowledging. We’re in denial.” Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter AddiegoMar 1, 2013
The film bolsters its case with plenty of facts, charts and expert testimony - evidence typical of this sort of advocacy documentary. But what makes the movie compelling is its focus on a handful of victims, who make the statistics painfully real. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesBill StametsFeb 27, 2013
A good documentary that is good for you. The bad news is that broccoli and bananas are neither available nor affordable for many Americans. That's the message of Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush's A Place at the Table, a necessary report on the national issue of hunger. Read full review
75
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreFeb 26, 2013
It’s a beautifully shot and reasonably balanced film, but one that struggles to find a hopeful note to end on. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineTomas HachardFeb 23, 2013
More difficult to convey are the web of moral and political issues that surround the hunger crisis, and A Place at the Table proves its worth most by how it treats this wider set of problems. Read full review
70
TimeMary PolsMar 4, 2013
The movie is called A Place at the Table and it specifically addresses our country’s hunger crisis. But it also speaks to larger hungers. Hungers for independence, a dignified life, a better chance for ones children — in short, the American dream. See it and weep. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternFeb 28, 2013
In addition to the dismaying facts and figures is a fuller sense of what hunger can look like, and feel like, among the millions of Americans classified as "food-insecure" — those who may not know, for themselves or their children, where the next meal will come from. Read full review
70
Village VoiceChris PackhamFeb 26, 2013
A Place at the Table attempts to document its subject with the progressive angle and emotional effect of such docs as "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Waiting for Superman." Read full review
70
VarietyJohn AndersonFeb 22, 2013
A useful, engaging and enraging movie that will enlist supporters for its cause. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMar 6, 2013
Few are willing to publicly confess their hunger or undernourishment or place it on display. And the problem is kept hidden as long as charitable food banks and soup kitchens continue to disguise the depth of the hunger. A Place at the Table confronts the issue head-on and offers some solutions. Read full review
50
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisFeb 28, 2013
Though the directors, Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush, smartly choose examples from among the working poor — reframing obesity as chronic malnourishment in areas where it’s easier to find a burger than a banana — they’re reluctant to get down in the political dirt. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott TobiasFeb 27, 2013
It makes a persuasive argument — which it makes easier by not allowing any counterargument — but it’s unpersuasive as a piece of filmmaking. In laying out its case, it’s manipulative and dull by turns. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith PhippsFeb 26, 2013
As an info dump, Table is admirably efficient, addressing everything from obesity to the limits of charity. As a film, it’s less compelling, with only one subject — Philadelphia single mom Barbie Izquierdo — getting enough screen time to put a human face on the crisis. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeMark FeeneyFeb 28, 2013
As morally engaged as the movie is, it’s also argumentatively slack. Precisely because it’s so easy to agree that hunger is bad, it’s hard to agree what to do. Read full review
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