An elegantly structured, horrifying film that shows the vanishing rainforest may be the least of the Amazon's worries.
Crude (2009)
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... 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 mammoth "Amazon Chernobyl" case from a variety of angles, refusing to take the side of any single person or side. Though it is a non-fiction documentary in form, Berlinger’s film has the pull of a legal drama where human life and the environment are at stake. [More]
Director: Joe Berlinger
Director: Joe Berlinger
Producer: Joe Berlinger, Michael Bonfiglio, J.R. Deleon, Richard Stratton
Composer: Wendy Blackstone
Studio: First Run Features
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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.
At first Crude looks like one more environmental agit-doc intended to outrage and inspire. Director Joe Berlinger is no doctrinaire hack, though.
If you ever had doubts about the impact that celebrities can have on such a David-and-Goliath struggle, Berlinger methodically removes them.
...good documentary filmmaking and an interesting, thought-provoking, subject.
It's a David-and-Goliath tale, full of anger and disturbing accusation, but it's also inspiring.
...a better balance of the human element against that of politics and courtrooms would have given the film a stronger emotional hook.
This isn't just a story of right and wrong, it's a story of money and media and, most of all, spin.
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.
It will certainly remain in your mind the next time you stop for gas.
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.
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.
No film could convey all the complexities of the case -- what Crude does is air the plaintiffs' claims and show the lawyers at work.
A 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.
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.
A provocative, well-balanced, illuminating and thoroughly engrossing documentary.
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.
Here’s a powerhouse of a documentary that makes you feel mad as hell and unwilling to take it anymore.
Latest 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 ![]()
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