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Sacco and Vanzetti
Metascore
70 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 13 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 0 out of 13
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  1. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Phil Hall
    100
    If the state government in Massachusetts refuses to acknowledge its execution of innocent men, then at least this compelling and powerful production can serve as a graceful elegy to the doomed men who were murdered by their adopted homeland.
  2. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    100
    It's cleansing to see the facts laid out with intimacy and rigor, and the film earns the comparison it makes to the squelching of due process for some of today's terror suspects.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Ronnie Scheib
    90
    Does a superb job of condensing an overwhelming mass of documentation, archival imagery and artistic representation into a concise yet passionate history lesson whose relevance could not be timelier.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    One of the movie's most moving elements is the duo's famous prison correspondence, as eloquently read by Tony Shalhoub as Sacco and John Turturro as Vanzetti. But Miller's obvious passion and dedication shine throughout.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: V.A. Musetto
    75
    The effect is informative and moving, even if the film has an attack of the gooeys at the end.
  6. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: J. Hoberman
    70
    Stirring documentary.
  7. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    70
    Regardless of your opinion about Sacco and Vanzetti, the documentary should prove thoughtful and thought-provoking.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Matt Zoller Seitz
    70
    The movie's meat-and-potatoes style seems less a failure of imagination than a means of putting in the foreground its intriguing subject matter.
  9. The New Republic
    Reviewed by: Stanley Kauffmann
    70
    A story that is still healthfully discomfiting to remember.
  10. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    70
    Concise and thoughtful.
  11. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    63
    Miller's film shows how quickly Americans facing perceived foreign threats are willing to ignore basic liberties. Sound familiar?
  12. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    60
    A bit pedantic, but thorough and interesting throughout, a must for history buffs.
  13. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ella Taylor
    50
    Now there is inconclusive but reasonable doubt, based on a letter that turned up in 2005 from Upton Sinclair, who had heard their disgruntled first lawyer say they were guilty. You'd think this nugget might show up in a new documentary about the case, but Peter Miller, known for his 2001 film about that other beloved song of the left, "The Internationale," has recast the story into a tale of prejudice against Italian immigrants and the violation of civil rights.
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