Night Catches Us
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: December 3, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
65
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
3
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumDec 7, 2010
Writer-director Tanya Hamilton's intellectually ambitious debut drama Night Catches Us is all the more notable for setting well-drawn fictional characters in a fraught, real moment in civil rights history. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazinePam GradyDec 7, 2010
This intelligent, emotional drama should resonate strongly with fans of character-driven stories and those interested in tales of American political struggle. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottDec 7, 2010
Ms. Hamilton tells a modest, complex story with admirable clarity and nuance. That her film is so quiet, so evidently invested in contemplation rather than confrontation, gives it power as well as insight. Read full review
75
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 9, 2010
Surely the gentlest American film ever made about home-grown revolutionaries. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertDec 8, 2010
The film leads to no showy conclusion, no spectacular climax. It is about movement possible within the soul even in difficult times. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyDec 7, 2010
Making a remarkable feature debut, Hamilton distinguishes herself more as a filmmaker than as a screenwriter. While she elicits smoldering performances from Mackie and Washington, the movie around them is rather diffuse. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversDec 7, 2010
Hamilton manifests her vision of what politics can do to individual thinking with subtlety and sophistication. Remember her name. She's a genuine find. Read full review
75
The A.V. ClubSam AdamsDec 7, 2010
For Washington, the wounds of the past are just beneath the surface, as close as the bullet holes under her kitchen wallpaper. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranDec 9, 2010
Manages to be both pertinent and dramatically persuasive. Made like it means something (and it does) by first-time writer-director Tanya Hamilton, it demonstrates that social relevance and emotional connection can be compelling fellow travelers. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeDec 7, 2010
Most successful are the scenes involving Marcus and Iris, a 10-year-old girl who grew up fatherless and watchful of her tumultuous surroundings. Read full review
70
NPRMark JenkinsDec 7, 2010
The movie evokes its time and place so potently that it almost doesn't matter that Hamilton's script proves unequal to her vision. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMelissa AndersonDec 7, 2010
Writer-director Tanya Hamilton's striking debut is the rare recent American-independent film that goes beyond the private dramas of its protagonists, imagining them as players in broader historical moments. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 10, 2010
It represents the rare lead role for Mackie, and he seizes the opportunity, convincingly playing the part of a soft-spoken former Black Panther. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 7, 2010
"Night" never quite coalesces into the forceful drama it hopes to be. Read full review
60
Time OutJoshua RothkopfDec 7, 2010
Night Catches Us surges awkwardly in its latter third, suddenly aware that a promising setup isn't enough. Regardless, here is an honorable attempt to address a complex chapter of African-American pride, one that's usually hidden under hairdos and wah-wah pedals. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 7, 2010
Merits admiration as an ambitious debut feature, though the impact of its splendid cast is blunted by the awkward structure of its screenplay. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithDec 7, 2010
It raises tangled questions about whether it is better to live humiliated or arm yourself, yet for the most part it's dramatically inert, talky and directionless, and it ends quietly without saying much of anything. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleDec 9, 2010
Suffers from some of the deficiencies common to first features. It is sincere and earnest but the product of an assumption that the milieu itself is compelling enough to command an audience's attention. Read full review
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