Martha Behind Bars
  • Network: CBS
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 25, 2005
Metascore
42

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8

Critic Reviews

  1. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    20
    A boring prison-sentence of a silly biopic.
  2. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    50
    Shepherd scores in a so-so docudrama.
  3. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tim Stack
    58
    It comes off feeling cheap and mean. [23 Sep 2005, p.84]
    All this critic's reviews
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    60
    Fortunately, "Bars" doesn't take itself or its subject too terribly seriously, allowing for the material's camp value to seep through.
  6. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    40
    Viewers who like to snicker at cheesy TV movies will get a kick out of Shepherd's imperious and demanding take on Stewart.
  7. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    60
    All told, the movie's a respectable and mostly watchable recounting of this notorious chapter in Stewart's storied career, despite being so stiff and formal that it never really comes alive.
  8. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Tom Shales
    40
    Where the previous movie aspired to be a camp classic, "Martha Behind Bars" takes itself more seriously, and less entertainingly.
  9. Flak Magazine
    Reviewed by: Bob Cook
    10
    Disappointly uncampy, even on its own terms.