Nina
RLJ Entertainment | Release Date: April 22, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
27
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
8
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanApr 21, 2016
[Zoe Saldana] acts with the right fire and sings beautifully and evocatively. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDan DeLucaApr 22, 2016
Now that Nina has finally arrived in theaters, revealing itself to be a listless, oddly constructed tale that does a poor job of capturing Simone's star quality or indomitable racial pride, it makes you wonder: Was it really worth kicking up all that controversy for a movie that's this bad? Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesMiriam Di NunzioApr 21, 2016
Nina never decides what it wants to say or where it wants to take us. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 21, 2016
Nina filters the singer’s voice — and her life — through tinny-sounding speakers and an out-of-focus lens. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyChristian HolubApr 20, 2016
Saldana (Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy) is an accomplished and bankable actress, but she doesn’t look much like Simone. That has led to several complaints, including from the Simone estate. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyApr 18, 2016
A certain integrity and seriousness of intent gleams through, but Nina is just too big a subject, and talent, to be compressed into such a small package. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesKatie WalshApr 21, 2016
There are a few stirring moments, but it never seems authentic or real, just a bizarrely staged re-creation. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlApr 21, 2016
The filmmakers have denied us their subject's voice and then sunk their lead by adding distancing layers between the audience and her chief instrument, her face. Even the script exhibits little confidence in this Nina's ability to communicate to us what matters. Read full review
40
VarietyAndrew BarkerApr 18, 2016
Even when not fighting with her makeup, Saldana’s Simone rarely feels fully formed. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloApr 20, 2016
Nina has been so thoroughly misconceived, on virtually every level, that the only less interesting portrait imaginable would be one that takes place entirely when Nina Simone was in utero. Read full review
30
The New York TimesA.O. ScottApr 21, 2016
Ms. Mort’s writing lacks psychological texture, and her direction generates little intensity, or even continuity. Read full review
30
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Apr 20, 2016
This Simone film hits all the wrong notes early. What is it trying to say about this enraged, iconic singer? Why does it want to say it? Since screenwriter Cynthia Mort apparently never asked those questions, director Cynthia Mort can't offer any answers. Read full review
25
New York PostSara StewartApr 21, 2016
The whole endeavor seems like a bad idea badly executed, and one can only imagine that Simone, a fierce advocate of black pride and empowerment, would be aghast at this cheesy rendition of the later years of her life. Read full review
25
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 21, 2016
Onscreen, Nina barely scratches the surface much less draws blood. For the essence of a legend, listen to the real Simone sing "I Put a Spell on You." She sure as hell does. This movie emphatically does not. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineEd GonzalezApr 20, 2016
The film is committed to the sort of broad strokes that reduce a great artist's life to a spectacle of self-pity. Read full review
25
IndieWireDavid EhrlichApr 18, 2016
Saldana delivers her distractingly affected performance with greater conviction than most could muster under these circumstances, but no amount of ferocity can disguise the discrepancy between the 37-year-old actress (33 at the time of filming) and the 62-year-old woman she's playing. Read full review
10
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternApr 21, 2016
It is shabby, as well as disjointed, superficial and just plain dull, a dislikable rendering of a tumultuous life. Read full review
0
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonApr 22, 2016
You’ll see some durable makeup in Nina. What you won’t see is any justification why this film should exist. Read full review
0
TheWrapDan CallahanApr 19, 2016
Nina, an infuriatingly amateurish picture about the great singer and pianist Nina Simone, is a new low for the musical biopic genre. Read full review
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