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Black Gold
California Newsreel

Black Gold reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 69 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.0 out of 10
based on 19 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 2 votes
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

In an attempt to provide a voice to the struggling farmers and laborers, this documentary examines the startling discrepancy between the skyrocketing profits of multinational coffee companies and the all-time low prices paid for coffee harvests.


GENRE(S): Documentary  
DIRECTED BY: Mark Francis
Nick Francis
 
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: October 6, 2006 
RUNNING TIME: 78 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

Also known as "Black Gold: Wake Up and Smell the Coffee"; Nominated, Grand Jury Prize (World Cinema - Documentary), 2006 Sundance Film Festival

What The Critics Said

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...

88
TV Guide Ken Fox
If you've never given much thought to the lives affected each time you choose one brand of coffee over another, allow this handsomely mounted documentary from British filmmakers Marc and Nick Francis to serve as a bracing, double-shot of reality.
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80
Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
The film's effectiveness is bolstered by juxtaposed scenes of fat and happy Americans and Europeans slurping up frozen chai lattes and clucking about how big Starbuck's is getting with scenes of children going into "therapeutic feeding centers" in the region where Starbuck's gets its coffee because they can't afford to by corn.
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80
Variety Robert Koehler
The Francises are aces behind the camera, displaying an elegant sense of composition that makes their subject visually ravishing. Andreas Kapsalis' gorgeous score lends doc a grand quality.
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80
Village Voice Rob Nelson
No mere Western-guilt-inducing harangue, this highly informative documentary by British brothers Marc and Nick Francis is a model of patient storytelling.
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80
The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann
An engrossing documentary.
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80
Washington Post Ann Hornaday
Beautifully shot and edited with swift efficiency, Black Gold joins a cadre of recent films that shine a welcome light on how the stuff we buy gets to us and, more to the point, how the price of that stuff often has little to do with its real cost.
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80
Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
Black Gold moves at an inexorable pace, painstakingly building a case until suddenly it looms very large and casts an even longer shadow.
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75
Boston Globe Janice Page
You buy "fair - trade" coffee; you assume you're being socially responsible. But now, along comes Black Gold to tell you that all fair-trade coffee is not created equal, and that Ethiopia, the "birthplace of coffee" and home of some of the world's best beans, may be getting the least fair shake of all.
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75
San Francisco Chronicle Walter Addiego
A film of stark and galling contrasts.
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75
Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
Guaranteed to make you think twice about what you're paying for what you're drinking.
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70
Chicago Reader J.R. Jones
Dramatically objectifies the unfair trade practices that help keep Africa mired in poverty.
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70
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
Black Gold is more an Al Gore-style message of hope than a total downer.
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70
The New York Times Stephen Holden
One of the most disquieting (and challenging) statistics is left for last: if Africa's share of world trade increased by only one percentage point, it would generate $70 billion a year, five times what the continent receives in aid. Who wouldn't want that?
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63
New York Post V.A. Musetto
A dry but enlightening documentary.
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60
Empire David Parkinson
While it may prompt some to think again next time they're in Starbucks, this astute insight into the coffee business is better at lauding the good guys than taking the multinationals to task for the iniquities of the global economy.
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60
The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck
While plenty of information is imparted in the impassioned proceedings, the film loses some impact because of its lack of a compelling structure.
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58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Bill White
There are shocking facts and supportive images, but the film lacks investigative spirit.
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50
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Some documentaries are so well-made they transcend the nature of their subjects. This is not one of them.
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50
The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
There's been a proliferation of "globalization sucks" documentaries over the past couple of years, but few have been as blunt as Black Gold.
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What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

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