Catch a Fire
Focus Features | Release Date: October 27, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Philip Noyce's anti-apartheid drama is tense and thoughtful, if somewhat marred by Hollywood-style thrills. Read full review
83
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Both a condemnation of torture as a political tool and a tribute to the bravery that exists within everyone. Read full review
80
NewsweekDavid Ansen
Luke has real movie-star power. He's enormously sympathetic, but this moving, well-crafted movie, written by Shawn Slovo, mercifully doesn't turn him into a plaster saint. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
With the same affinity for stories of culture clash he showed in "The Quiet American" and "Rabbit-Proof Fence," director Phillip Noyce embraces the tale with gusto. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Catch a Fire isn't edgy like some of Noyce's previous titles nor is it a big-budget endeavor with A-list stars. Instead, it's a simple and sincere tale of inspiration. Read full review
75
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Fire shows what happens when a government systematically denies rights to one racial group for decades, but its message is more current. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Screenwriter Shawn Slovo -- whose white parents were anti-apartheid activists in South Africa -- ends his finely tuned screenplay on a note not of violence and anger but of forgiveness. It's a breathtaking coda that reminds us of that undeniable human beauty: the ability to survive, to fight for right -- and then move peacefully on. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
Luke, who had the title role in Denzel Washington's directorial debut, "Antwone Fisher," is that rare actor who can convey profound inner conflict with just a look in his eye; his performance is attuned, astute and remarkable. Read full review
75
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The movie belongs to Luke, who brings the heroic Chamusso to life as richly as Forest Whitaker does the evil Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland." Read full review
75
New York PostLou Lumenick
Luke, who seems to have been marking time since his impressive debut in the title role of Denzel Washington's "Antwone Fisher" four years ago, is fiercely good as this reluctant warrior and devoted family man. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
This deeply moving and disturbing film derives power from being based on the true story of a black South African who does everything possible, no matter how degrading, to get by within an immoral system, but becomes radicalized almost despite himself. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Catch a Fire paints the period with a double-sided brush that gives yesterday its due and puts today on notice. Read full review
75
PremiereEthan Alter
Right off the bat, Catch a Fire distinguishes itself from other recent international productions about Africa (including The Constant Gardener and The Last King of Scotland) in that it is actually told from an African perspective. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeFore
Comparisons to "Hotel Rwanda" make sense up to a point - both feature heroes who have the scales removed from their eyes - but "Fire" is no tearjerker, and here the story of Chamusso's conversion serves mainly as prologue to the main plot, a history-tinted cat-and-mouse policier in which he will attempt to finish the job he was wrongly accused of starting. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
The young American actor (Derek Luke) gives such an intense, passionate performance as South African Patrick Chamusso that he just about dares you not to be involved with the tale he is telling. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoanne Kaufman
An affecting story of punishment and crime, of betrayal and redemption marred by preachiness and a treacly ending, Catch a Fire is notable for its refusal to see things in terms of black and white.
67
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's always odd to see Robbins, a political activist in his own right, playing at villainy, but here he descends into the role so thoroughly that the lopsided smile becomes less a notation of cockeyed boyishness than a treacherous Cheshire smirk. Read full review
67
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The movie is flawed and doesn't completely come off as a convincing biography, but its heart is in the right place, it has moments of poignancy and power, and it makes a pleasant change of pace for a genre that essentially has become a cry of despair. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Whatever you make of the film's politics, Luke makes a vivid impression in his most substantial role since "Antwone Fisher," and Robbins resists the temptation to make the thinly written Vos a villainous caricature. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though preachy at times, Catch a Fire is a well-constructed action thriller elevated by Luke's performance. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Luke gives a powerful performance -- with his looks and talent, he should be a much bigger star -- but Robbins is the one you'll remember. Fixed with the faraway look of a doomed man who knows the center cannot hold, he gazes fearfully toward a future he knows is coming and can do nothing to stop. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
In Catch a Fire Noyce has caught the holy spirit. The movie is a thriller that wants to lift you up. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Stories of resistance to oppression will never become obsolete, but this feels like a picture that should have been made a long time ago. Read full review
60
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
The less rosy message of Catch a Fire is that aggression breeds aggression. Read full review
60
EmpireHelen O'Hara
An intelligent thriller that effectively conveys the message that terrorism, even in apartheid-era South Africa, is rarely a black-and-white issue. Read full review
50
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
In the end, Catch a Fire plays like some weird hybrid on the crazy-quilt filmography of Phillip Noyce, which includes small productions made in his native Australia and the Sharon Stone sexcapade "Sliver." What it's definitely not is the standard-issue movie about apartheid; there's no white protagonist, no pale-faced hero riding in on his high horse to save the oppressed black man. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneJessica Reaves
The horrors of apartheid deserve a better treatment than this. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Director Phillip Noyce has made a serious movie that switches to almost popcorn entertainment. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
It’s a film that wants to play as if it were ripped from today’s headlines, but has been shredded into near incoherence. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The problem with Tim Robbins' dreadful turn as a South African "anti-terrorist" official in Catch A Fire--and it was also a problem with his sniveling Bill Gates impersonation in "Antitrust"--is that he can't hide his distaste for his own character. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The film never strays much beyond the obvious, despite a conscientious effort by Tim Robbins to humanize a white security officer. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Catch a Fire just doesn't spark. Read full review
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