The Big Uneasy
"DIA" Productions GmbH & Co. KG | Release Date: May 20, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 9 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
5
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
New York PostLou LumenickMay 20, 2011
When disaster struck, the documentary says, the powerful corps went to extraordinary lengths to silence, discredit and punish whistleblowers, many of whose allegations were supported by congressional investigators. Read full review
75
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMay 17, 2011
What it lacks in style, however, it more than makes up for in substance, as Shearer -- as smart as he is funny -- has assembled a vital and admirably accessible post-mortem on Hurricane Katrina. Read full review
75
Portland OregonianShawn LevyMay 17, 2011
At once breezy and substantial, but it could have been more powerful if it were, paradoxically, sharper and blunter. Read full review
70
Village VoiceErnest HardyMay 17, 2011
Shearer builds an airtight case to prove his thesis, and one of his most chilling arguments is a roll call of brave souls whose lives and careers have been systematically wrecked in pursuit of the truth. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 9, 2011
Unfortunately, I was also convinced that trapped within this 98-minute film is a good 30-minute news report struggling to get out. Shearer, who is bright and funny, comes across here as a solemn lecturer. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterMichael RechtshaffenMay 21, 2011
While Shearer admittedly makes an impassioned directorial debut, the film plays out like a data-heavy, extended investigative report with an academic emphasis on scientific findings over portraits of human suffering. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinMay 19, 2011
So sleepy and understated that when John Goodman shows up to yell his way through an angrily sarcastic segment called "Ask A New Orleanian," it's incredibly jarring. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearMay 17, 2011
Whistle-blowing works best without gratuitous pop-doc debris, but there are only so many dry, fact-heavy testimonies from engineers you can take before a certain dullness uneasily settles in. Read full review
40
VarietyJohn AndersonMay 17, 2011
Well-intended and informative, but also unfocused, unwieldy and a little smug, picture pales in comparison to the really first-rate films on the subject ("When the Levees Broke," "Trouble the Water"). Read full review
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