Metacritic Film

Darfur Now

Starring Don Cheadle, Hillary Rodham Clinton, John McCain, Adam Sterling, Musa Sharif, Sheikh Ahmed Mohamad Abakar, Jason Miller, and Pablo Recalde

MPAA RATING: PG for thematic material involving crimes against humanity

Warner Independent Pictures
Documentary
99 minutes | Color
USA
Released In Theaters November 2, 2007

Darfur Now is a story of hope in the midst of one of humanity's darkest hours--a call to action for people everywhere to end the catastrophe unfolding in Darfur, Sudan. In this documentary, the struggles and achievements of six different individuals from inside Darfur and around the world bring to light the tragedy in Sudan and show how the actions of one person can make a difference to millions. (Warner Independent Pictures)

WRITTEN BY
Ted Braun

DIRECTED BY
Ted Braun

Overall Metascore

This is a weighted, normalized average of all individual scores given by critics, on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best).

66 / 100

Critic Reviews

100 Chicago Tribune Kelley L. Carter
This is the kind of film that doesn’t end after the credits roll, and it’s a gold-star example for what a documentary should do: inspire.
88 TV Guide
More than any previous film on the subject, Braun's documentary offers an answer to a common question, perfectly phrased and answered by Cheadle himself: "What can I do? More than nothing. A lot more than nothing."
83 Portland Oregonian
If the presence of Cheadle and his handsome pal George Clooney can entice otherwise resistant viewers to learn about the ongoing travesty in western Sudan, then Darfur Now has done its job.
83 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The kind of movie you're glad somebody had the guts to make, but you don't really want to endure.
75 San Francisco Chronicle
Instructive as a portrait of activism.
75 Miami Herald
Despite the fact that the film is not graphic, you won't want to watch Darfur Now over dinner with your family. But you probably should anyway.
75 Boston Globe
Slick, impassioned, and guardedly upbeat, Ted Braun's film is a morale booster aimed at US audiences rather than the 2.5 million displaced Sudanese tribespeople whose villages have been destroyed and families slaughtered. That we need a pick-me-up more than they do is pathetic, but there you are.
75 Chicago Sun-Times
It is not a compelling documentary (too much exposition, not enough on-the-spot reality), but it is instructive and disturbing.
75 USA Today
By showing the struggles and efforts of about half a dozen people, it puts a human face on the tragedy.
70 Chicago Reader
Effective advocacy film about the genocide in Darfur.
70 Washington Post
See Darfur Now, and you won't read the daily news the same way again.
70 The New York Times
What Darfur Now offers is a collective vision of actions, small and large, taken on many fronts, to end the crisis. The movie is a quiet, methodical call to action.
70 Los Angeles Times
Attempts to both explain the situation to audiences and offer some reason to hope for the future. It's an almost impossible task, and though the film does better than anyone might expect, its success is not complete.
70 New York Magazine
The depressing subtext is that even with detailed proof of ongoing genocide, it takes movie stars to get to the movers and shakers, and to get worthy movies like this one into theaters.
67 Entertainment Weekly
The film gets a little ''We can fix this!'' inspirational for a chronicle of such staggering darkness.
67 The Onion (A.V. Club)
It's a heartbreaking tale, a sliver of a tragic history still unfolding, but one that Braun largely leaves others to document.
63 New York Daily News
A disquieting, and somewhat disjointed, call to arms, Theodore Braun's heartfelt documentary is undeniably important. But it may not be quite focused enough to ignite the passion he so clearly wants his audience to feel.
50 Village Voice Nick Pinkerton
If you evaluate Darfur Now against the goals it sets for itself--as a stirring call to action--it must be considered lacking.
50 New York Post
The documentary Darfur Now proves that - no matter how im portant the subject matter - following various people around with a camera doesn't necessarily make a film.
50 Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton
For all the film’s rallying efforts, its meandering structure and absence of a central driving character results in a film about genocide that is, as unbelievable as it sounds, kind of boring.
50 The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Theodore Braun's work may well reach and convert one thousand more Adam Sterlings. Here's hoping it does. There is, however, a difference between a worthy cause and a worthy film.

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