The World Made Straight
Millennium Entertainment | Release Date: January 9, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 13 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 8, 2015
Jeremy Irvine is the sympathetic focus, but it’s Noah Wyle who holds the movie together, as a former teacher who lost his job through a malicious student’s prank. Smart, self-possessed and capable, this fellow nonetheless carries himself with an awareness of some underlying guilt. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzJan 9, 2015
The movie never entirely rises to the height of its ambitions, though: there are moments when you can practically hear it straining to impart significance to what is, in the end, a fairly standard sensitive-young-criminal-in-over-his-head story. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithJan 7, 2015
Though the film, based on a Ron Rash novel, doesn’t quite deliver on all its grim portents, debut director David Burris creates a neo-Faulknerian atmosphere of indelible sin in a story that rises above cliché. As Wyle’s character puts it, “The South was never one thing.” Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJan 7, 2015
It’s a slow film, and almost painfully melodramatic in its obvious twists and turns. But the performances are finely tuned, and the story arc and situations — aside from a few pauses for a song — quietly gripping. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesSheri LindenJan 8, 2015
The movie finally feels more manufactured than organic, a travelogue of portent, complete with plangent guitars and peopled by characters from the backwoods playbook. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesStaff [Not Credited]Jan 8, 2015
A moody, brooding and sl-o-o-o-o-owly meandering tale that works its way, almost reluctantly, toward the violent finale — which also manages to be remarkably passive and anti-climactic. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckJan 8, 2015
The film's saving grace is its fine performances. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis HarveyJan 8, 2015
This evenly paced drama holds interest with its uneasy character dynamics, interesting milieu and effective performances, though a story so frequently on the verge of violence ought to build more tension than Burris manages. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJan 8, 2015
The finale, in which blood rivalries are redressed in an absurdly literal manner, fatally strains credulity. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 8, 2015
A palpable sense of environment and strong performances from Noah Wyle and musician Steve Earle can’t balance the extensive flaws in this unconvincing Appalachian melodrama. Read full review
40
The DissolveVadim RizovJan 8, 2015
For all the good intentions and native hands behind the camera, The World Made Straight never seems particularly credible or convincing as a fresh look at regional history. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael NordineJan 7, 2015
On-the-nose monologues on the cyclical nature of centuries-old blood feuds ultimately feel more like stuffy lectures than living history; ditto the film as a whole. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineSean NamJan 5, 2015
The moody lighting and the ubiquity of deciduous trees provide a canvas for bracing drama, but the film undoes itself by its desire to impart revelatory history lessons. Read full review
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