Free Zone
New Yorker Films | Release Date: April 7, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
51
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Gitai's experimental technique in Free Zone is dizzying, sometimes thrilling. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Natalie Portman demonstrates tour de force weeping in the back of a taxi as an American searching for her roots in Israel. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Unfortunately, the characters feel more like symbols than people, despite strong performances, including what might be Portman's finest work to date. Read full review
63
PremiereEthan Alter
For all its intelligence, Free Zone has disappointingly little to say. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
A minor movie on a major subject, a drama with an almost unbearable lightness. Read full review
60
VarietyDerek Elley
Amos Gitai's most satisfying pic since war drama "Kippur." Schematic set-up is given a human face by fine performances and a physical journey that's often more interesting than the characters' emotional ones, which are weakened by the Israeli auteur's tendency toward convenient doctrinaire-ism and chunks of expository dialogue. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Like a lot of Gitaï's films, Free Zone is part history, part allegory, and part art. Both the history and art hold their fascinations. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Free Zone is similar to the car-based films of Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami but with a more improvised, less-finished feel. Read full review
50
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Oddly, in representing a private conflict as the microcosm of an unsolvable catastrophe, Free Zone only manages to miniaturize both. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The movie works best as a car's-eye travelogue of Jordan. And the three women might be good company on another, less stressful trip. Say to the Caribbean. Read full review
50
New York PostV.A. Musetto
The three women deliver solid performances, but the film is diluted by the use of flashbacks superimposed over present-time scenes. The result is visual chaos. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Unfortunately, the message is made clear within the first 10 minutes, leaving us with about 80 minutes of thematic repetition. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Despite a provocative climax, the movie settles into a ponderous collection of soliloquies. Read full review
40
The New York TimesStephen Holden
If the strong performances of its three stars infuse this metaphorically clotted movie with some life, the screenplay (some of which was improvised) has a weak narrative pulse. This political essay posing as a movie makes the mistake of confusing longwinded storytelling with compelling drama. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterDuane Byrge
A road picture mired by unsteady camera work, lackadaisical pacing and cumbersome speechmaking, Free Zone is an excruciating cinematic trek. Israeli director Amos Gitai's narrative, both visually and conversationally, is a disappointing dud. Read full review
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