| 100 |
Christian Science Monitor
David Sterritt
Pungent, opinionated, outspoken.
|
| 100 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Graham
Haunting music, the seriousness of the allegations and riveting interviews with Alexander Haig, Christopher Hitchens (whose book inspired the film) and others give "Kissinger" extra drama and urgency.
|
| 90 |
Washington Post
Desson Thomson
Makes compelling, provocative and prescient viewing. You can draw your own conclusions.
|
| 88 |
Boston Globe
Wesley Morris
In ''Trials,'' Hitchens is almost endearing, stalking Kissinger from one event to the next like a bleary-eyed Michael Moore.
|
| 88 |
New York Daily News
Jack Mathews
The Trials of Henry Kissinger serves as both a prosecution brief on the above charges and an unauthorized biography.
|
| 88 |
Miami Herald
Marta Barber
Puts you on edge about what goes on behind the closed doors of the White House. Even if the case against Kissinger is not fully convincing, the documentary keeps you glued to your seat and thinking long after you've left the theater.
|
| 88 |
Baltimore Sun
Michael Sragow
The movie never undercuts his brilliance and his unexpected charisma. No matter how high his degree of malevolence, he cuts a bigger figure after you see the movie than he did before.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Manohla Dargis
Bluntly effective.
|
| 78 |
Austin Chronicle
Marrit Ingman
The film is sufficiently methodical and well-researched to walk the walk behind its controversial premise. More to the point, it's terribly involving, intriguing enough to hook documentary-shy viewers.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times
Roger Ebert
Fascinating to watch as a portrait of political celebrity and ego.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
Allison Benedikt
While the filmmaking is standard documentary fare and the approach overtly biased, the narration, with tales of intelligence intrigue and ruthless foreign policy, is compelling and convincing.
|
| 75 |
New York Post
Jonathan Foreman
This brisk, British-American co-production is one of the better political/historical documentaries to come out in some time.
|
| 70 |
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
Damning legal brief against the former secretary of state.
|
| 70 |
Variety
Ronnie Scheib
A chilling history lesson in realpolitik.
|
| 70 |
TV Guide
Ken Fox
The case is a convincing one, and should give anyone with a conscience reason to pause.
|
| 70 |
The New York Times
A.O. Scott
A muckraking effort that will probably play best to the converted.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Provides a valuable refresher course in our less-acknowledged methods of meddling in the affairs of other countries.
|
| 70 |
The New Yorker
David Denby
The movie feels not only like a trial but like a trial in absentia. [7 Oct 2002, p. 108]
|
| 67 |
Entertainment Weekly
Owen Gleiberman
Watching this film, one is left with the inescapable conclusion that Hitchens' obsession with Kissinger is, at bottom, a sophisticated flower child's desire to purge the world of the tooth and claw of human power. The movie isn't, finally, an argument. It's a long angry ''Boo!''
|
| 60 |
Dallas Observer
Andy Klein
Two minor drawbacks: Onscreen IDs of speakers are sometimes omitted. And Kissinger's crimes seem almost paltry in comparison to current American policies.
|
| 50 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Noel Murray
On the whole, the filmmakers hold too much to the text, and too often employ the smugly knowing, self-righteous tone typical of British telejournalism.
|
| 50 |
Village Voice
J. Hoberman
Circumspect documentary.
|
| 50 |
LA Weekly
John Powers
To explore seriously the question of Kissinger's crimes wouldn't merely take hours, it would require the patient, unblinking vision of a Frederick Wiseman or Marcel Ophuls. Gibney and Jarecki just want to string the bastard up.
|
