Trudell
Balcony Releasing | Release Date: February 24, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
48
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
9
Negative:
1
Watch Now
Buy on
Stream On

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
It's an intriguing portrait, but it makes no pretense at objectivity, erring on the side of hero worship. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeErin Meister
A thought-provoking and graceful portrait of a tenacious peace warrior whose frankness is his greatest weapon. Read full review
70
Village VoiceMark Holcomb
Unfortunately, Rae's film is split down the middle, and the appeal of its latter half depends on your tolerance for earnest politico-poetry set to wailing rock guitar and Native American chants and extraneously endorsed by celebrity talking heads. The backstory portion of the film, though, is riveting. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Rae's 80-minute film isn't able to answer every question or flesh out important details of these events, and she spends more time on Trudell's artistic endeavors than on his direct political action. Read full review
60
VarietyJoe Leydon
More hagiography than history, Heather Rae's long-in-production portrait of Native American activist and poet John Trudell has the uncritically admiring feel of authorized biography. Read full review
60
The New York TimesJeannette Catsoulis
No one in the film has a bad word to say about Mr. Trudell, despite his 17,000-page F.B.I. dossier; and by the time Robert Redford assures us that meeting him is not dissimilar to meeting the Dalai Lama, you may feel that all this worship does not do justice to an unusually stormy and complicated life. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Anyone looking for history lessons from Rae's documentary will have to be patient and alert enough to pick through the poetry. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Rae does offer a riveting introduction to the American Indian civil rights movement. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Unfortunately, absent a more objective context, Trudell's gnomic utterances do little to support those sentiments. By preaching so relentlessly to the choir, this film misses an opportunity to show what got them to sing in the first place. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Feels padded in some places, truncated in others. It also feels too respectful, especially when its subject is such a deep thinker and questioner of authority. Read full review
40
Film ThreatBob Westal
While Trudell has a few interesting and emotional moments in its second half, from the start it is badly hobbled by its worshipful tone. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyTim Grierson
How could a movie about someone with one of the nation's longest FBI files be this dull? Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The man whom the FBI described as "extremely eloquent, therefore extremely dangerous" here seems about as threatening as Mother Teresa. Read full review
25
New York PostV.A. Musetto
Politics aside, Trudell plays like an infomercial for its subject rather than a serious examination of the man and his beliefs. Read full review
More From This Movie

48 Critic Reviews

tbd 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