Ground Truth, The

Boston Globe Ty Burr

The documentary any American with an opinion on our involvement in Iraq owes it to his or her conscience to see.

Premiere Sara Brady

This film, a raw howl of outrage and pain, is proudly one-sided, allowing a generation of wounded men and women to scream their betrayal.

Slate Dana Stevens

Wrenching new documentary about returning veterans, may not single-handedly reverse the trend of ignoring Iraq docs in theatrical release, but it should.

Time Richard Corliss

Both horrifying and hopeful.

The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg

Foulkrod's film is not about taking a political side, though it is clear she is strongly opposed to the war in Iraq. Her focus instead is on the dehumanizing of eager young men and their transformation into killing machines.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Anyone who claims to support the troops owes it to them to see the film and hear their stories.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

It's become a critical cliche to say that everyone in the U.S. should see a particular war documentary, but even the most selfish citizen might want to check out The Ground Truth, because unlike the Iraqi victims of the war, the American ones are all around us.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Mostly a string of talking-head interviews, but those talking heads -- more than 16 men and women -- are compelling.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

This thoughtful, sensitive film, perhaps the most emotionally wrenching of all the Iraq documentaries, could have been made after any war.

Variety John Anderson

The substance of the movie is potent, and so powerfully presented by those who have fought and are still fighting a controversial war, that the message of Ground Truth cannot be dismissed.

Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar

Far from being a mere polemic, The Ground Truth is bolstered immeasurably by Foulkrod’s almost exclusive use of interviews with actual veterans.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

Compelling and intensely provocative.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Powerfully documents the human cost of the Iraq war.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Foulkrod's film covers little new ground, but some painful truths are worth repeating.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Tries to do too much in too little time. It would be a stronger film if it devoted more detailed attention to the plight of the returning veteran. As it stands, it is a scattershot antiwar polemic that doesn't bolster its arguments with any historical perspective or statistical evidence. No one from the government or the military is trotted out to give an opposing view. This is not to say that The Ground Truth, on its own terms, isn't devastating.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Immensely moving.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Foulkrod's film instead airs some of the hard-won truths learned by American soldiers from experience.

New York Post Kyle Smith

Ends up feeling familiar.

The New Yorker David Denby

The Ground Truth is an emotionally potent work, but the great study of an Iraq vet, in either documentary or fictional form, has yet to be made.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The details are eye-opening (or ear-opening, in the case of marching songs taught to the new Marines about slaughtering Arab schoolchildren), but soon Foulkrod's film backs itself into a Support Our Troops corner.