For Colored Girls
Lionsgate | Release Date: November 5, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
11
Negative:
10
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleNov 4, 2010
The effect is like watching an opera without music. Or a musical drama in which no one sings. These departures from a realistic convention never feel like static set pieces - that's the great success of the film and of the poems themselves. Read full review
90
The New York TimesManohla DargisNov 4, 2010
As it turns out, Mr. Perry, while busily establishing his economic independence, has been finding his voice as a filmmaker. And here, working with fine performers like Ms. Elise, Anika Noni Rose, Phylicia Rashad and Kerry Washington, he sings the song the way he likes it - with force, feeling and tremendous sincerity. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanNov 4, 2010
The writer-director waited until he had the clout, budget and prestige to attract a top-flight cast, then turned Colored Girls into a movie with a little less darkness but plenty of heart and guts. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyNov 4, 2010
Whatever stumbles there may be, they are offset by moments when For Colored Girls soars. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerNov 13, 2010
A long wallow in misery and, after a while, the pain morphs into polemic. Read full review
75
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreNov 3, 2010
Perry's great gift to this unfilmable play is getting it on the screen, his sharp eye for casting and his evident affection and sympathy for black womanhood, even in movies in which he doesn't don a dress. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderAndrea GronvallNov 4, 2010
Perry benefits from the fire, heft, velocity, and lyricism of the language, but he also updates the material and makes it work onscreen, eliciting powerhouse performances from an ensemble of actresses. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallNov 3, 2010
For Colored Girls is blessed with a Murderer's Row of black female actors, each tearing ferociously into Shange's words and gamely hanging on through Perry's. Read full review
65
MovielineMichelle OrangeNov 4, 2010
Perry weaves together not just the individual stories but their arcs, sustaining the emotional tenor across the progress of nine lives. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisNov 4, 2010
It's too much too-much. The audience I saw it with didn't seem to know whether to clap when it was over or start taking Lipitor. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyNov 4, 2010
At its best, Shange's work is a lyric journey through the storm to the rainbow. At its worst, Perry's movie is a relentless dance between the victimizer and his victim. Shange's poetic flow gets choked by Perry's stilted prose. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertNov 3, 2010
Perry tries to be faithful to the play and also to his own boldly and simply told stories, and the two styles don't fit together. Read full review
More From This Movie

50 Critic Reviews

6.2 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 77 Project Hail Mary
2 75 Send Help
3 73 Hoppers
4 72 The Sheep Detectives
5 68 Crime 101
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL