New This Week
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Awards & Bests By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

Lake of Fire
THINKFilm

7.8 based on 15 reviews Read critic reviews How did we calculate this? based on 7 votes Read user comments Rate this movie

FILM:

• American History X

• Internet Movie Database

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Noam Chomsky, Alan M. Dershowitz, and Randall Terry

Filmmaker Tony Kaye, best known for “American History X,” has been working on Lake of Fire for the past fifteen years and has made a film that is unquestionably the definitive work on the subject of abortion. Shot in luminous black and white, which is in fact an endless palette of grays, the film has the perfect aesthetic for a subject where there can be no absolutes, no ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ He gives equal time to both sides, covering arguments from either extremes of the spectrum, as well as those at the center, who acknowledge that, in the end, everyone is ‘right’ – or ‘wrong.’ (THINKFilm)

GENRE(S):	Documentary
WRITTEN BY:	Tony Kaye
DIRECTED BY:	Tony Kaye
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 11, 2008  Theatrical: October 3, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	152 minutes, B/W
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

If nothing else, the film puts the lie to the notion that an abortion could ever be frivolous or lightly considered. On that point, everyone in Lake Of Fire agrees, whether they acknowledge the other side or not.

90

Variety Leslie Felperin

An extraordinary docu achievement. Handsomely filmed on silvery 35mm and high-definition by Kaye himself, the shrewdly edited picture balances a full spectrum of views from all sides of the abortion debate without obviously taking a position itself.

90

New York Magazine David Edelstein

Lake of Fire centers on abortion, but Kaye understands that while dead fetuses are the hook, the agenda covers the whole life cycle.

88

TV Guide Ken Fox

Does find a spot closer to the middle than most.

88

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

This is a brave, unflinching, sometimes virtually unwatchable documentary that makes such an effective case for both pro-choice and pro-life that it is impossible to determine which side the filmmaker, Tony Kaye, stands on. All you can conclude at the end is that both sides have effective advocates, but the pro-lifers also have some alarming people on their team.

88

Boston Globe Ty Burr

After 152 epic minutes, ‘Lake of Fire’ comes down to this: If you’re not living this woman’s life, maybe you shouldn’t tell her what to do.

83

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

The longer it goes on, the less your mind settles. You may not believe in a hell in which a lake of fire rages, but we live in a nation and at a time when many people have little lakes of fire in their heads and hearts. Kaye is determined that we never forget that truth or its price.

80

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Highly compelling, if overlong and overwrought.

80

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

You may not leave the theater having switched sides, but you'll probably respect the other side more, and that in itself would be a victory for human life.

80

The Hollywood Reporter John DeFore

Smart, visually appealing, and consistently engaging.

80

Village Voice J. Hoberman

At once monumental and ghostly.

75

New York Post Kyle Smith

A great abortion documentary might leave you guessing which side of the debate the director was on. Lake of Fire is not that film, but it comes somewhat close.

75

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

It's impossible to watch Tony Kaye's theatrically supercharged, equal-opportunity button-pusher without experiencing a welter of emotions -- which is just what the filmmaker planned.

75

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

By the end of Lake of Fire, you know full well you’re in the presence of a deeply conflicted filmmaker, bound to make all sides uneasy, even enraged.

70

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

One lesson of Lake of Fire is the galvanizing power of the visual image. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words, and sometimes pictures are not enough.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Robert S. gave it a10:
How this sober, unflinching documentary failed to receive an Oscar nominations is beyond me. Director Tony Kaye goes to great pains to interview people with a wide array of beliefs on the issue - a fact that leads me to believe that the review by rob s is an intellectually dishonest one, placed by someone who hasn't even seen the documentary. Yes, Noam Chomsky is interviewed, but so are anti-abortionists of many different stripes - from the articulate to the wholly irrational. Perhaps most stunning is Kaye's focus on one woman, who receives an abortion. In a stunning final scene, he simply allows her to describe her complex feelings without interruption. As for Jake W, the documentary does clearly depict a pro-Choice advocate, asking why the anti-abortion protesters aren't lining up to adopt unwanted children. Adoption is actually discussed several times throughout the film. But it's not a documentary about adoption - or alternatives to abortion. It's a documentary about the struggle among Americans to come to a common understanding about abortion. The fact that Jake W. and Rob S. (both men we should note) dismiss the documentary so easily merely highlights the fact that they're not willing to consider viewpoints other than their own - something the film masterfully details, as well.

Judy L gave it a9:
Excellent movie. Illuminating and effective in its choice of interviews, videos and images. Although I can't say that it occupies the exact middle ground, it does attempt to address both sides at the beginning, and does continue to bring in arguments for both pro choice and pro life. This movie does portray sometimes that there is an equal sign of pro-lifers as Christian Fundamentalists, but I think it does bring the point across clearly of the extremes on both sides of the scale. There was an interview that stood out to me of a pro-life supporter who is an atheist, and also pro-life supporters that are for life regardless of age (anti death penalty, for instance). Although not perfectly balanced, this movie does make you think about your stance, whether affirming it or reshaping it.

rob s gave it a0:
Propaganda piece through and through. Chomski is as radical far left as it gets. Maybe because movie critics in general are far left of center they actually believe this is a fair piece that gives an accurate view of boths sides of this debate.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
2 and a half hours, and not a minute spent off the edge of my seat.

Jake W. gave it a6:
All these reviews, touting the movie's evenness, may have led me to judge the movie more harshly than if I'd seen it without hearing anything. The movie is not about abortion, it is about abortion clinics and Christian Fundamentalists who attack them. The movie is interesting and provocative and maddening, but that isn't surprising--even a less attractive and professional film about abortion would be all of those things, too. About half of the movie, in my estimation, is spent making it redundantly clear that the only pro-life argument is in the bible, and anyone who doesn't read count his steps on the Sabbath must, simply must, be pro-choice. Oh, and shouldn't a film about abortion mention, more than accidentally, adoption?

nate gave it a10:
Even as a film on this topic could possibly be. An oddity in almost every way.

Discuss this movie in our forums