70
Metascore
13 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Film ThreatPhil HallFilm ThreatPhil HallIf the state government in Massachusetts refuses to acknowledge its execution of innocent men, then at least this compelling and powerful production can serve as a graceful elegy to the doomed men who were murdered by their adopted homeland.
- 100Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanIt's cleansing to see the facts laid out with intimacy and rigor, and the film earns the comparison it makes to the squelching of due process for some of today's terror suspects.
- 90VarietyRonnie ScheibVarietyRonnie ScheibDoes a superb job of condensing an overwhelming mass of documentation, archival imagery and artistic representation into a concise yet passionate history lesson whose relevance could not be timelier.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoThe effect is informative and moving, even if the film has an attack of the gooeys at the end.
- 70Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanStirring documentary.
- The movie's meat-and-potatoes style seems less a failure of imagination than a means of putting in the foreground its intriguing subject matter.
- 70The New RepublicStanley KauffmannThe New RepublicStanley KauffmannA story that is still healthfully discomfiting to remember.
- 63New York Daily NewsJack MathewsNew York Daily NewsJack MathewsMiller's film shows how quickly Americans facing perceived foreign threats are willing to ignore basic liberties. Sound familiar?
- 60SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirA bit pedantic, but thorough and interesting throughout, a must for history buffs.
- 50L.A. WeeklyElla TaylorL.A. WeeklyElla TaylorNow there is inconclusive but reasonable doubt, based on a letter that turned up in 2005 from Upton Sinclair, who had heard their disgruntled first lawyer say they were guilty. You'd think this nugget might show up in a new documentary about the case, but Peter Miller, known for his 2001 film about that other beloved song of the left, "The Internationale," has recast the story into a tale of prejudice against Italian immigrants and the violation of civil rights.