Provoked: A True Story
Release Date: May 11, 2007 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
8
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
For all the gushy feelings, the plight of women like Kiranjit, bound not only by domineering, often physically abusive husbands but by racism and oppressive cultural traditions as well, is poignantly portrayed. Read full review
70
VarietyDerek Elley
Mixed Indian and Western cast --turn the true story of a case that changed British law into an old-style melodrama (in the best sense) complete with a feel-good ending. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Rai's acting is frustratingly passive in Provoked, and the script is laced with prison and courtroom cliches. But the movie gets most of the facts straight and the flashbacks to the wife's abuse are harrowing. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Based on a true story, this Indian variation on a theme of "The Burning Bed" emphasizes the psychological freedom the inmate finds behind bars. Read full review
50
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Unfortunately, Provoked possesses the tiny production values and schmaltzy music of a prime-time special, despite its ensemble of terrific actors. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
There's an interesting movie in here, too, about the isolation of Indian brides brought to a new country by strange new husbands and mistreated, but Provoked rarely ducks below its glossy surface to go there. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
There's a noble cause buried under all the clumsy speeches, blatant manipulations, and foreordained conflicts, but the thudding lack of subtlety proves exhausting. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklySteven Mikulan
Unfortunately, syrupy music, reductive characterizations and bland cinematography turn her case into an earnest feminist fable that plays like an afterschool special for grown-ups. Read full review
40
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
Unfortunately, in keeping its inflammatory subject matter at arm’s length, Provoked does exactly the same to its audience. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
No one breaks into song, but this fact-based legal drama about a battered Anglo-Indian wife on trial for murdering her husband is infected with a fatal strain of heaving Bollywood melodrama. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
What should have turned out as a terrific movie about the crime of spousal abuse has instead received the equivalent of a ham-handed molestation by director Mundhra. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Most of the ingredients for a strong, tough film are there, and they have been sadly botched by a few key collaborators. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Chopped into episodes headed by typewritten dates, Provoked turns the case of a lifetime into something straight out of Lifetime. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
A clueless Mundhra tackles the subject with a heavy hand and a contrived script. The result is a daytime soap mixed with a second-rate women-behind-bars flick. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kamal Al-Solaylee
In a picture that begins with a torching scene and goes on to mine the burning question of the rights of abused women to strike back, Provoked never ignites the screen with clear argument or noble passion. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
A well-intentioned, but all-thumbs down drama. Read full review
20
Village VoiceEd Gonzalez
Short-changing issues of race and wearing its heart way out on its sleeve, it's the film's amateur exposition that's most dumbfounding -- poised to provoke more sarcasm than righteous indignation. Read full review
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