The Public
Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) | Release Date: April 5, 2019 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
11
Negative:
3
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
67
Original-CinKim HughesApr 23, 2019
The Public, which played at TIFF last fall, is the kind of movie you want to like and that probably needs to get made and seen. But needing to see something and wanting to see it are different things. Read full review
67
The Film StageJared MobarakApr 3, 2019
Estevez isn’t afraid to swing for the fences and elicit some tears from empathetic audience members, but he’s also willing to stop himself short of full-on exploitation via senseless violence. That’s what makes The Public a success despite the convenient characters and constant paralleling showing the merit of second chances. Estevez never forgets the humanity he’s striving to spotlight. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreSep 18, 2019
Jeffrey Wright plays the world weary library director trying to keep the peace and hold on to some semblance of the institution’s core mission — a fact delivering, education supplementing bastion of learning, civic responsibility and civility. That’s one thing The Public absolutely nails. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comNell MinowApr 5, 2019
The film is often entertaining, with some nice touches and compelling moments. Read full review
60
Film ThreatAlan NgApr 5, 2019
In these divided times, films centering on political issues either make an earnest attempt to persuade the other side to consider its point of view or play to its political allies and demonize its enemies. The Public does the latter, and the result is to further widen the divide of political discourse with self-righteous finger-pointing. Read full review
60
Rolling StonePeter TraversApr 5, 2019
Estevez leans toward sacrificing dramatic power for blatant crowdpleasing. Still, his intent is refreshingly uncynical. Clearly, the quadruple threat doesn’t think audiences will sit still for his message without sugarcoating and a feelgood ending. At worst, you can dismiss him as a naïve do-gooder. At best, you can commend him for actually believing a movie might raise public consciousness and maybe even change things. Your call. Read full review
58
The PlaylistChris BarsantiApr 4, 2019
Even though The Public ultimately doesn’t come together as a dramatic piece, particularly in the hammy climax, it does take some impressive chances. Just making a story about the invisible homeless is a brave move to start—audiences tend not to like stories about intractable issues, after all. Read full review
50
The New YorkerAnthony LaneApr 8, 2019
The problem is, there’s only just enough story to go round. You can hear the creak as both characters and subplots get jacked up out of proportion. Read full review
50
ObserverRex ReedApr 6, 2019
Implausible dialogue, contrived activist themes and an overstuffed, hard-to-follow trajectory (even for a parable) muddy the waters of a swamp that needs draining. Read full review
50
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergApr 5, 2019
Most egregiously, Gabrielle Union plays a TV news reporter determined to portray the protest as a hostage situation. At the film’s nadir, Stuart, on the phone with her during a broadcast, stops making his case and begins quoting from “The Grapes of Wrath.” Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 4, 2019
Estevez further undermines the film by casting himself in the lead role. He gives an odd performance, in which he consistently seems to be going for enigmatic, but he ends up just inexpressive. Read full review
50
TheWrapTricia OlszewskiApr 3, 2019
The film is a clunky and at times ridiculous affair, taking a situation that might reasonably happen and turning it into something melodramatic and ultimately unbelievable. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 2, 2019
What could have been a deep and rousing clarion call on the homeless crisis gets supplanted by surface characterizations and situations, us-against-them broadsides and weak story strands. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawFeb 26, 2020
It is a film with its heart in the right place, but the dialogue and characterisation are both plonkingly unconvincing. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelApr 4, 2019
[Estevez] still hasn't progressed beyond the film-school basics, but somehow he managed to recruit an all-star cast of (presumably) like-minded activists for The Public. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzApr 25, 2019
The Public is writer-director Emilio Estevez’s grand, well-meaning and extremely dumb vanity project/tribute to the public-library system. Read full review
37
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanApr 3, 2019
This is a small film with some big-ish names in it: Jeffrey Wright plays Stuart’s boss; Taylor Schilling is his love interest; and Gabrielle Union is a TV reporter. But it topples under the weight of its unwieldy themes. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonApr 1, 2019
The film is a clunky, overwritten attempt to pack as many tortured subplots and pre-chewed sociological insights as can possibly fit into a two-hour runtime. Read full review
More From This Movie

46 Critic Reviews

6.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL