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64
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69
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54
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85
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Special
79
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67
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82
Tell No One
83
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43
Tru Loved
83
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59
We Are Wizards
55
What Just Happened?
89
Man on Wire
85
Slumdog Millionaire
84
Momma's Man
84
Christmas Tale, A
84
Happy-Go-Lucky
83
Trouble the Water
83
U2 3D
82
Tell No One
82
Rachel Getting Married
82
Frozen River
82
Let the Right One In
81
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
79
Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
78
I've Loved You So Long
77
Pray the Devil Back to Hell
76
Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
75
Pool, The
73
Girl Cut in Two, A
72
I Served the King of England
70
I.O.U.S. A
69
Ashes of Time Redux
69
Fear(s) of the Dark
68
August Evening
67
Synecdoche, New York
64
Appaloosa
63
JCVD
63
Eden
63
Changeling
62
Duchess, The
59
We Are Wizards
57
Special
57
Sixty Six
56
Religulous
55
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
55
What Just Happened?
54
Battle in Seattle
54
Good Dick
53
RocknRolla
51
Morning Light
50
Breakfast with Scot
47
How About You
47
Choke
46
Dukes, The
43
Tru Loved
43
Gardens of the Night
41
Cthulhu
40
Igor
40
Other End of the Line, The
34
My Name Is Bruce
34
Otto; or Up with Dead People
32
Repo! The Genetic Opera
31
Hounddog
30
Guitar, The
28
Fireproof
27
Lake City
26
House of the Sleeping Beauties
26
Filth and Wisdom
xx
Dostana
xx
Nobel Son
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Agronomist, The
ThinkFilm Inc.
FILM:
MPAA RATING: PG-13 for some violent images and brief nudity
Starring
Jean Dominique
This documentary is a profile of Jean Dominique, a Haitian radio journalist and human rights activist who was assassinated in 2000.
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Jonathan Demme
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: June 7, 2005
Theatrical: April 23, 2004
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
91 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
As a documentary, The Agronomist, in its excitingly fractured, modern manner, does what Lawrence of Arabia and The Leopard do: It traces the upheaval of a civilization in the profile of a magnificent individual. It's a 90-minute nonfiction film with the impact and the greatness of an epic.

90
Slate
David Edelstein
Demme's movie exuberantly crosses the border from documentary into hagiography and from hagiography into celebration.

90
New York Magazine
Peter Rainer
Free speech isn't merely a shibboleth in The Agronomist. As embodied by Dominique, it's a fire-breathing force.

90
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Nathan Rabin
Driven by Dominique's personal magnetism, The Agronomist is a haunting, inspirational valentine to free speech and human resilience.

90
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
This affecting eulogy underscores not only Demme's own tribute to Dominique but also the film's homage to radio. This is a motion picture that's in love with the magic of airborne speech.

90
Los Angeles Times
Kenneth Turan
Director Demme has done other potent and meaningful films, but The Agronomist defers to none of them in its effectiveness and its power.

90
The New York Times
Dana Stevens
It seems almost unthinkable that such a charismatic, generous and lively man could be gone. It also makes you understand what it means for a country like Haiti to lose a citizen like Jean Dominique.

88
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Enlightening documentary.

88
Chicago Tribune
Michael Wilmington
This film--one of the best and most memorable documentaries of the year so far--brings that truth-teller to us once again.

88
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
After his murder, Michele Montas goes on the air to insist that Jean Dominique is still alive, because his spirit lives on. But in this film Haiti seems to be a country that can kill the spirit, too.

83
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Sean Axmaker
A rousing celebration of a genuine people's hero and a timely reminder that a free press is the greatest weapon in the arsenal of democracy and freedom.

83
Portland Oregonian
Marc Mohan
The film verges on hagiography as one interviewee after another testifies to Dominique's positive influence on his nation, but in this case the cynical notion that there must be another side to the story is easy to tamp down.

80
Dallas Observer
Melissa Levine
Demme's film is as inspiring and moving as its subject, a man who brought critical news and information to the people of Haiti even as a series of dictatorships sought violently to shut him down.

80
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Has important things to tell viewers about global politics, and in an eerily resonant way.

80
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
We are left with vivid images of Dominique, whose desire to change his country, despite formidable intimidation, is an inspiration to any supporter of democracy.

80
The Hollywood Reporter
Frank Scheck
Compelling.

80
LA Weekly
Marc Cooper
Although the film may be about 20 percent overweight, the human story of a man who -- for four decades -- spat in the eye of his tormentors and gleefully accepted his role as a latter-day Sisyphus commands the viewer's attention.

80
Variety
Robert Koehler
Melds a great cause and Dominique's incandescent charisma with care using research from nine years of filming and reporting.

80
Chicago Reader
Meredith Brody
Demme's moving documentary turns the story of his dead friend into the story of Haiti.

78
Austin Chronicle
Marc Savlov
Remarkable, melancholy, and ultimately hopeful documentary.

75
Boston Globe
Ty Burr
Smartly filmed (aside from a few distracting editing fripperies), but it's so dazzled by its subject and saddened by his martyrdom that it never moves past the heroic politics of dissent.

75
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Watching Demme's documentary is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens.

75
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
Until he was shot to death in 2000, Haitian radio journalist Jean Dominique was a lone voice for truth and freedom in his politically riven country.

75
New York Post
Lou Lumenick
The Agronomist uses archival footage and music to tell a moving story that's all too common in the Third World.

75
San Francisco Chronicle
Jonathan Curiel
The story of an amazing life.

70
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Jonathan Demme gets personal with this affectionate tribute to courageously outspoken radio broadcaster Jean Dominique, the pro-democracy advocate whose unflagging support for president Jean-Bertrand Aristide eventually cost him his life.

70
Film Threat
Merle Bertrand
The film reveals a man whose wiry build, relentless passion, fearless guile, and bravery made him a beloved human rights activist in his strife-ridden country.

67
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
As Demme's audienc we're at the mercy of political passion overshadowed by style.

63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Rick Groen
Not an extraordinary portrait, but it does portray an extraordinary man.


The average user rating for this movie is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 4 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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