In My Country
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: March 11, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
14
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
New York PostKyle Smith
Sobering and important. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
A stirring, large-souled movie. Read full review
75
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Boorman treats this moving, important subject with restraint, tact, and candid views of horrors suffered by the nation. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
A potent, moving, liberal-minded docudrama. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Boorman's troubles usually come from going over the top (atop Exorcist II, there's always Zardoz). But this is one of his few misfires that almost anyone would call tepid. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There is something not quite right about the film itself. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Stephen Cole
Although In My Country is charged with moments of grace and feeling, the film is ultimately betrayed by the clunky Jackson-Binoche romance. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
It's essential viewing for anyone interested in the state of post-Apartheid South Africa. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In My Country doesn't so much explore as use the tragedy of black South Africa to give its heroine a righteous slap of nobility. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
The charisma and hard work by his two leads allows Boorman to succeed beyond all expectations. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
In My Country stands closest to "Hotel Rwanda," a similarly clumsy yet inescapably moving effort to confront the brutal consequences of colonial oppression. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
High-minded but hopelessly wooden film. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Boorman's stars Juliette Binoche and Samuel L. Jackson are valiant - even impressive - but they cannot rescue this grueling film or its mechanical plot. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Would be better if it weren't so preachy. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
A disappointingly blunt, monochrome work. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Lacks compelling narrative. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
At its best when Anna confronts her tangled Afrikaaner legacy and when it brings the heretical notion of forgiveness up front, where a non-African audience can come to grips with it. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Ends badly, with a clumsy, nihilistic coda that leaves one uncertain how to feel about the story, confused as to what point has been made and not at all convinced that the new South Africa will be that much different from the old one. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverMelissa Levine
A clunky, obvious film, it makes the mistake of asking drama to do what documentary should. Read full review
40
VarietyDerek Elley
An unquestionably sincere but dramatically stillborn outing by veteran John Boorman. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarrit Ingman
There is great material here and ample food for thought, but the presentation is lacking. Read full review
30
Village VoiceJessica Winter
Boorman's bathetic tourism is unconscionable for a subject of this magnitude; for an infinitely superior account of this chapter of South African history, seek out the documentary "Long Night's Journey Into Day." Read full review
30
Washington PostDesson Thomson
In their desire to humanize the big story, director John Boorman and screenwriter Ann Peacock ... have resorted to groan-inducing cliches and clunky narrative. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
This romantic melodrama ... doesn't even get to first base. Read full review
25
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Social justice is never an excuse for bad art. In fact, one could argue that a really bad movie about a really important subject is twice the artistic crime -- because, however well-intentioned, it trivializes human suffering while squandering a teaching opportunity. Read full review
20
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Any social good the film might do gets lost in a soupy morass of histrionics, clumsy storytelling, overripe dialogue, and rampant didacticism. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
It's a bad idea done disastrously.
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