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Cove, The
EMAILPRINTRoadside Attractions

Universal acclaim
Based on 26 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 16 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info
Genre(s): Documentary
Written by: Mark Monroe
Directed by: Louie Psihoyos
Release Date:
Theatrical: July 31, 2009
DVD: December 8, 2009
Running Time: 92 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for disturbing content
In this pulse-pounding eco-thriller, a crack team of divers, activists and special effects experts infiltrate a secret cove in Japan to expose one of history's most shocking and unimaginable crimes against nature. Winner of the Audience Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival, 'The Cove' is sure to be one of the most talked about films of the summer. (Roadside Attractions)
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
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...
The Hollywood Reporter Justin Lowe
Shot rivetingly by cinematographer Brooke Aitken, who combines digital, night-vision and thermal-imaging formats into a formidable package, the footage is edited tautly by Geoffrey Richman and enhanced measurably by J. Ralph's suspenseful score.
Read Full Review >Variety Justin Chang
Eco-activist documentaries don't get much more compelling than The Cove, an impassioned piece of advocacy filmmaking that follows "Flipper" trainer-turned-marine crusader Richard O'Barry in his efforts to end dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.
Read Full Review >New York Magazine David Edelstein
The end of The Cove is as rousing as anything from Hollywood. Manipulative? Sure--but isn't that fitting? Capitalism has driven an entire village to massacre dolphins and keep its work hidden.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
What's so remarkable about Louie Psihoyos' documentary The Cove isn't just that it's a powerful work of agitprop that's going to have you sending furious e-mails to the Japanese Embassy on your way out of the theater. That's definitely true, but the effectiveness of The Cove also comes from its explosive cinematic craft, its surprising good humor and its pure excitement.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
There are many documentaries angry about the human destruction of the planetary peace. This is one of the very best -- a certain Oscar nominee.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Rick Kisonak
At once an astonishing feat of advocacy filmmaking and a white knuckle eco-thriller; think Michael Moore meets Michael Mann.
Read Full Review >New Orleans Times-Picayune Mike Scott
Not only does it deliver a powerful message, but it is wrapped in an immensely entertaining package.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis
Like the director's cover story, the movie is a Trojan horse: an exceptionally well-made documentary that unfolds like a spy thriller, complete with bugged hotel rooms, clandestine derring-do and mysterious men in gray flannel suits.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Ella Taylor
The Cove is properly enchanting, horrifying, and rousing, but it comes dangerously close to making the narcissistic case that dolphins deserve to be saved because they're cute and breathe air like we do.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
An eco-mentary that's as passionate and persuasive an argument for change as "An Inconvenient Truth."
Read Full Review >NPR Bob Mondello
Psihoyos describes his troops as a kind of "Ocean's 11" team, and that's apt enough: He's making a real-life action caper, a heist with potential consequences in the real world. The buildup to getting the shots they want has a good deal of natural tension. And the payoff -- well, let's just say it's devastating.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The Cove is the rare documentary specifically designed as a thriller.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy
It's an exemplary and incendiary instance of documentary filmmaking as real-world advocacy.
Read Full Review >Empire Philip Wilding
A taut, thrilling documentary that plays out like a heist movie while never overshadowing its message or activist credentials.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
A powerful and effective piece of advocacy filmmaking, but it's difficult to watch it without thinking of subtitles like "The Place Where Evil Dwells" or "The Little Town With the Really Big Secret." Which is no accident.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
The Cove exposes the dark secrets that underpin the world’s dolphin mania, whether it’s our enjoyment of the animals performing circus tricks in aquariums, the swimming-with-dolphins industry, or the government recruitment of the sea mammals’ intelligence, communication, and sonar abilities for military applications.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Amy Biancolli
The caper-movie touches and cocky self-awareness may wear thin, but you can't discount the importance, or the horror, of that footage.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Michael Posner
Hopefully, after seeing this film, interest in places like Sea World will begin to decline.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
The most horrific -- and heartbreaking -- scene of any movie thus far this year comes at the climax of The Cove.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
The Oceanic Preservation Society doesn't change the world so much as call attention to something so very wrong with it. And in doing so, The Cove culminates with an image of political agitation that might be one of the most oddly effective public service announcements you'll see.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
The Cove plays like a thriller. It has the breathless pace of a "Bourne" movie, but none of the comfort of fiction. This is documentary filmmaking at its most exciting and purposeful.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
The film makes its case graphically, to say the least, yet muddies its bloody waters with an excess of artifice and a dearth of facts.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Philip Kennicott
The slaughter is part of a traditional fishing culture, according to the Japanese. But if you succumb to the emotional appeal of this documentary, it emerges not just as a bloody and brutal business but almost as bad as genocide.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall
Directed by Louie Psihoyos, this well-intentioned documentary exposes the harvesting of dolphins by Japanese fishermen, yet its theatrics suggest a cross between reality TV and "Mission: Impossible."
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Noel Murray
The Cove's ultimate message gets muddled, especially since Psihoyos limits all counter-arguments to a few inarticulate or thuggish boobs.
Read Full Review >New York Post Kyle Smith
Two fins up for The Cove, a documentary that whales on evil Japanese fishermen who kill dolphins for lunch meat.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
TDKinDallas gave it a6:
[***SPOILER***] Worth watching. Definitely suspenseful and sometimes interesting, but I felt the movie did not explain a lot. I wish they were not killing the dolphins, but it obviously is part of their culture(in that region). I still hated the line, "You eat cows, we eat dolphins!" They did not even confront the Japanese IWC guy. Why not? I also do not understand why they did not go to this town with large numbers. If you had 500+ protesters descend on the town during the kill, then how would they stop you from walking to the vantage points? They couldn't find any outraged Japanese people to help out? WTH? Personal space wouldn't have had a chance! I have other gripes too, but I still recommend the movie.
Bill C gave it a10:
Ignore any bias you may have against those dry, boring documentary films you feel you must watch because they're good for you. This is an out and out thriller and the filmmakers risked jail time in order to share it with their audience. Their dedication to expose the secret of Taiji so that the world will take action and end it earns our respect and admiration.
Tracy A gave it a3:
Gosh, just the film for scare hype to those ignant about fishing methods. Harpooning and polespearing are not that unusual for killing large fish. After all, the Japanese have been eating dolphins for centuries. What they kill can't be compared to the number (over 100,000 per year) killed or drowned by the fishing nets of our tuna fishermen. Many dolphins get entangled in old nets, floating freely and loosely in the seas. Besides, many near-shore dolphins and porpoises are exposed to pollution and toxins, making them sick.. just look at the growing reports of the large numbers of sick and dying bottlenose dolphins washed up on our East Coast! Fishermen, off northern Australia, have been using dolphin meat to bait sharks! Save your money and spend it on 'UNDER THE SEA.'
keith w gave it a10:
Tell EVERY one of your friends to sell this film. No person walked out without being touched, moved and angry. What a film!
