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90Black's cool-headed but blistering indictment of globalization and the racist international economic policies that have shoved that country into crushing poverty.
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Devastating, artful, and intelligent documentary.
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90Offers the clearest analysis of globalization and its negative effects that I've ever seen on a movie or television screen.
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83It's smart, instructive political cinema that tackles complex issues of the globalization with practical examples and vivid images and presents its effects in immediate human terms.
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80After viewing documentarian Stephanie Black's dour exegesis of the wrecked Jamaican economy -- only the most insensitive vacationer will want to set foot anywhere near the resorts and beaches of Montego Bay.
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80Hard to watch, harder still to ignore.
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78To paraphrase Nathan McCall, this film makes you wanna holler.
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75If you're curious about why the demonstrators are so angry, this is why they're so angry.
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75A searing documentary with an agenda.
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75Blends compassion for individuals with explanations of the socioenonomic factors that influence them.
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75This is a sophisticated and unsettling documentary marred only by a voice-over taken from the writings of Jamaica Kincaid.
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75What's frustrating for the viewer who wants to support the Jamaican economy is that "Life and Debt" does not suggest how Jamaica-lovers can help the island's citizens.
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75Employs both eloquent and down-to-earth methods to explain the complex reasons why so many of the world's developing countries remain caught in an economic quagmire that prevents them from becoming self-sufficient.
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70The only criticism that can possibly be leveled at Black's film is its narrow focus, but it's not hard to extrapolate.
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70The damning commentary and revelations about the perils of globalization, not just for Jamaica but developing countries the world over, do come across loud and clear.
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70Powerfully illustrates what globalization has been doing to underdeveloped countries around the world.
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63Often makes for a compelling comedy-drama about family ties. It's only when the cancer takes center stage that the movie feels like a wash.
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50It's an intelligent movie about economics. As such, it would probably make more sense to have it reviewed by economists than film critics.
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25Self-righteous, economically illiterate and sometimes flatly dishonest.
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10Tough to respect a documentary that doesn't play fair. Anyone interested in the subject would be better off spending Life And Debt's torturous 80-minute running time with a good article on the topic.