Amistad
DreamWorks Distribution | Release Date: December 10, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
There's some excellent comedy early on involving the mutual incomprehension of Africans and Americans, though this eventually gives way to solemn, ethnocentric mush about one African's reading of the story of Jesus, demonstrating as usual that sustained subtlety is hardly Spielberg's forte. Read full review
60
Film ThreatTom Meek
Of the underutilized mega cast, Djmon Honsou shines the brightest. His portrayal of Cinque, the leader of the displaced band of African tribesmen, is devastatingly potent. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
What saved "Schindler's List" from this self-conscious nobility was the ambiguity of Oskar Schindler's personality and Spielberg's willingness to treat incendiary material coolly. The lesson he seemed to have learned there, that the strongest stories call for the greatest restraint, is one he has at least partially forgotten here. Read full review
60
SlateDavid Edelstein
After an electrifyingly feral opening, the movie settles down into a cogent courtroom drama, with no real cinematic highs but no jaw-dropping lows, either. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Consistently earnest and well-intentioned but only occasionally moving, despite the efforts of a generally top-notch cast. Read full review
60
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Although the movie is moving and even funny in many places, it's also overextended. And composer John Williams's syrupy score practically oozes from your ears on the drive home. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Steven Spielberg's historical drama is more stilted and didactic than its fascinating subject deserves, gathering great emotional force only in a harrowing scene depicting the Holocaust-like suffering of slave-ship captives. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
Spielberg uses a more conventional format than he did in the stripped-down black-and-white "Schindler's List,'' and delivers a film that veers between stoic political correctness and mushy pop-Hollywood platitudes. Read full review
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