Jimmy Carter Man from Plains
Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: October 26, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
An intriguing document, and the first significant film ever made about a former U.S. president. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's galvanizing to see it played out through the furious contradiction of Carter's personality. He is pious, stubborn, compassionate, testy, moral, unreasonable, and wise. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The portrait of Carter has been described as hagiography, but it isn't a stretch to view his quiet integrity as saintly next to the track records of his successors. Read full review
75
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Though not exactly a valentine to the octogenarian Nobel Peace Prize winner, the film is a lovingly rendered, candid and intimate portrait. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Shows a man whose beliefs, both political and religious, seem to reinvigorate him; he even carries his own luggage in airports and hotels. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy Burr
A documentary that falls somewhere between overlong and compelling as it follows the 39th president on his controversial book tour. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
It's a remarkably intimate look at the man and his thinking, and you wish for more history to flesh out the biographical aspects of his life. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
I'm still not quite sure why it's so compelling. I think this movie's appeal is overdetermined, as we used to say in sophomore Marxist-theory class, meaning that it derives from so many sources you can't keep track of them all. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
These may be the qualities of a great man, but they're not exactly the stuff of a great documentary subject, especially given how hard Carter works to defuse the emotions stirred up by his book. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The minutiae of Carter's book tour isn't always enthralling, but his personality drives the film: pious, stubborn, devoted to his wife, curious, professional, warm and yet slightly removed from the fray, conciliatory, meticulous, self-effacing, funny, decent, intellectually rigorous and firmly committed to his positions. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
There is no doubting Jonathan Demme's admiration for our 39th President: It's apparent from the opening scenes. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Uncritical, but not unaffecting. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
Blandly interesting. Read full review
50
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Thanked and vilified from coast to coast, Carter remains steadfast in his belief that Israel's policies in the Occupied Territories are unjust and counterproductive. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Man From Plains isn’t about engagement; it’s about disengagement from Mr. Carter’s critics and his more provocative beliefs. It’s also about legacy building. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This narrowly cast documentary focuses so exclusively on a publicity tour the former president took in the closing months of 2006 that a more accurate title might be "Jimmy Carter How I Sold My Book." Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneSid Smith
Carter comes off as compassionate and intelligent. But the complex issues brought up in his book don’t get much more than a superficial debate. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The movie doesn't offer much new to anyone familiar with Carter. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
A bit of a docu-mess. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
Jimmy Carter documentary is a smug, self-righteous monologue. Read full review
40
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
Demme's documentary portrait, Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains, has no surfeit of good intentions. In fact, running over two hours, they're nearly suffocating. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
There isn't enough revealing material in the tedious documentary Jimmy Carter Man From Plains to sustain an 800-word magazine profile, let alone a two-hour film. Read full review
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