An elegantly structured, horrifying film that shows the vanishing rainforest may be the least of the Amazon's worries.
Comment
11/13/09
Crude (2009)
95
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:38
Fresh:36
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Dynamic, tightly arranged, and deliberately provocative, Joe Berlinger's Crude is a sobering, enraging wake-up call.
Rated: Not Rated
Genre: Education/General Interest
Theatrical Release:Sep 9, 2009 Limited
Synopsis: Director Joe Berlinger continues in the tradition of his justice-driven films BROTHER’S KEEPER and PARADISE LOST with this documentary. CRUDE travels to South America, where it investigates the... [More]
Director: Joe Berlinger
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Reviews for Crude
While the audience may see smoking guns in every oily soil sample and every sick kid, Crude is only a progress report of a case that might last until well into the decade, the sordid details of which are still, pardon the pun, spilling out.
11/12/09
At first Crude looks like one more environmental agit-doc intended to outrage and inspire. Director Joe Berlinger is no doctrinaire hack, though.
11/05/09
Top CriticIf you ever had doubts about the impact that celebrities can have on such a David-and-Goliath struggle, Berlinger methodically removes them.
10/23/09
...good documentary filmmaking and an interesting, thought-provoking, subject.
10/17/09
It's a David-and-Goliath tale, full of anger and disturbing accusation, but it's also inspiring.
10/14/09
Top Critic...a better balance of the human element against that of politics and courtrooms would have given the film a stronger emotional hook.
10/12/09
This isn't just a story of right and wrong, it's a story of money and media and, most of all, spin.
10/12/09
Looking for another reason to leave your car at home? Go see Crude.
10/09/09
A legal thriller, it's a three-year investigation into the disaster environmentalists call the “Amazonian Chernobyl” that offers both sides of the story and leaves the viewer in the position of jury.
10/09/09
Top CriticIt will certainly remain in your mind the next time you stop for gas.
10/09/09
Crude has all the hallmarks of a John Grisham story - sharp lawyers, raw greed, Big Business behaving badly. The difference is that this David-vs.-Goliath story is no work of fiction.
10/09/09
Berlinger provides a bracing and intelligent look at how such battles are (and perhaps must be) fought in a world that's hardly lacking when it comes to tales of injustice.
10/09/09
Top CriticPowerful and powerfully upsetting.
10/08/09
Top CriticNo film could convey all the complexities of the case -- what Crude does is air the plaintiffs' claims and show the lawyers at work.
09/25/09
Top CriticA heart-wrenching, alarming and brilliantly crafted documentary about Chevron's desecration of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and the 27-billion dollar law suit in which indigenous peoples seek remediation and justice.
09/12/09
Embedded in the story are enough intriguing characters and moments of high human drama for it to function more like a piece of effective fiction than a work of overwrought agitprop.
09/11/09
A provocative, well-balanced, illuminating and thoroughly engrossing documentary.
09/11/09
A dynamic and dramatic documentary about the David vs. Goliath dimensions of the "Amazon Chernobyl" case where indigenous tribal groups are fighting the multinational corporation Chevron.
09/11/09
Here’s a powerhouse of a documentary that makes you feel mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore.
09/11/09
Top CriticLatest News for Crude
September 10, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot's Weak
This week at the movies, we've got post-apocalyptic conflict (9, with voice work by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly); Antarctic intrigue (Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale... More...
August 11, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
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