In My Country

New York Post Kyle Smith

Sobering and important.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

A stirring, large-souled movie.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Boorman treats this moving, important subject with restraint, tact, and candid views of horrors suffered by the nation.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

A potent, moving, liberal-minded docudrama.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There is something not quite right about the film itself.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole

Although In My Country is charged with moments of grace and feeling, the film is ultimately betrayed by the clunky Jackson-Binoche romance.

USA Today Mike Clark

Boorman's troubles usually come from going over the top (atop Exorcist II, there's always Zardoz). But this is one of his few misfires that almost anyone would call tepid.

TV Guide Ken Fox

It's essential viewing for anyone interested in the state of post-Apartheid South Africa.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

In My Country doesn't so much explore as use the tragedy of black South Africa to give its heroine a righteous slap of nobility.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

In My Country stands closest to "Hotel Rwanda," a similarly clumsy yet inescapably moving effort to confront the brutal consequences of colonial oppression.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

High-minded but hopelessly wooden film.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

Boorman's stars Juliette Binoche and Samuel L. Jackson are valiant - even impressive - but they cannot rescue this grueling film or its mechanical plot.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The charisma and hard work by his two leads allows Boorman to succeed beyond all expectations.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

A disappointingly blunt, monochrome work.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

Lacks compelling narrative.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

At its best when Anna confronts her tangled Afrikaaner legacy and when it brings the heretical notion of forgiveness up front, where a non-African audience can come to grips with it.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Ends badly, with a clumsy, nihilistic coda that leaves one uncertain how to feel about the story, confused as to what point has been made and not at all convinced that the new South Africa will be that much different from the old one.

Dallas Observer Melissa Levine

A clunky, obvious film, it makes the mistake of asking drama to do what documentary should.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Would be better if it weren't so preachy.

Austin Chronicle Marrit Ingman

There is great material here and ample food for thought, but the presentation is lacking.

Variety Derek Elley

An unquestionably sincere but dramatically stillborn outing by veteran John Boorman.

Village Voice Jessica Winter

Boorman's bathetic tourism is unconscionable for a subject of this magnitude; for an infinitely superior account of this chapter of South African history, seek out the documentary "Long Night's Journey Into Day."

Washington Post Desson Thomson

In their desire to humanize the big story, director John Boorman and screenwriter Ann Peacock ... have resorted to groan-inducing cliches and clunky narrative.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

This romantic melodrama ... doesn't even get to first base.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Social justice is never an excuse for bad art. In fact, one could argue that a really bad movie about a really important subject is twice the artistic crime -- because, however well-intentioned, it trivializes human suffering while squandering a teaching opportunity.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Any social good the film might do gets lost in a soupy morass of histrionics, clumsy storytelling, overripe dialogue, and rampant didacticism.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

It's a bad idea done disastrously.