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Catch a Fire (2006)

tomatometer

75

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Reviews Counted: 141
Fresh: 106 | Rotten: 35

No stranger to the political thriller, director Phillip Noyce tackles apartheid and terrorism with experienced gusto, while Derek Luke and Tim Robbins hand in nuanced performances.

76

Average Rating: 6.5/10
Critic Reviews: 41
Fresh: 31 | Rotten: 10

No stranger to the political thriller, director Phillip Noyce tackles apartheid and terrorism with experienced gusto, while Derek Luke and Tim Robbins hand in nuanced performances.

audience

63

liked it
Average Rating: 3.4/5
User Ratings: 28,696

My Rating

Movie Info

An apolitical South African oil-refinery worker and soccer coach is forced into terrorism as a means of fighting back against the brutality of the apartheid regime in director Phillip Noyce's dramatic look at the life of one-time political prisoner and freedom fighter Patrick Chamusso. In the 1980s, Patrick (Derek Luke) and his wife Precious (Bonnie Henna) lived a peaceful life until one fateful day, when on an overnight trip with his team, Patrick is singled out as the prime suspect in a

Jan 30, 2007

$4.3M

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All Critics (145) | Top Critics (41) | Fresh (109) | Rotten (36) | DVD (9)

At its best when making the most of the conflicts at the heart of apartheid.

March 23, 2007 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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Despite Mr. Noyce's attempt to achieve a sense of balance and restraint, the material covers an overly familiar landscape with no special insight or sense of purpose.

November 1, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Observer
New York Observer
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Catch a Fire ignites, incites and informs as few other movies of the fall do.

November 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel
Orlando Sentinel
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Catch a Fire is confident enough to depict the battle from all sides.

November 1, 2006 Full Review Source: Associated Press
Associated Press
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[The film is] complex. It's rich. I think it's well-done.

October 31, 2006 Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper
Ebert & Roeper
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Patrick Chamusso, the refinery foreman played by Derek Luke in Catch a Fire, brims with energy, whether he's dancing to a Donna Summer song or coaching the local youth soccer team.

October 28, 2006 Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News
Dallas Morning News
Top Critic IconTop Critic

It doesn't quite have the adrenaline to be a great thriller, but Catch a Fire makes up for it with compelling characters and a genuinely important theme, skillfully told. There's not much else you can ask from a film than that.

March 10, 2011 Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net
ComingSoon.net

Gritty apartheid drama pushes PG-13 limits.

January 1, 2011 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media
Common Sense Media

Movies like Catch a Fire are perhaps the most banal sort to write about.

September 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Film and Felt
Film and Felt

Noyce is now the favorite filmmaker of your local Amnesty International

July 2, 2009 Full Review Source: I.E. Weekly
I.E. Weekly

...as the credits rolled, I did hope for more.

June 21, 2007 Full Review Source: Film Scouts
Film Scouts

(...) Además de su valor testimonial (...) vale la pena por su estupendo elenco.

May 30, 2007 Full Review Source: Uruguay Total
Uruguay Total

Let us hope that Noyce's influence in Hollywood will help give this film the attention it deserves, and that his newfound activism will have some effect.

April 23, 2007 Full Review Source: culturevulture.net
culturevulture.net

Sadly, it's all a bit of a Boer about 20 years past its sell-by date and tells us little we didn't know already.Catch a Fire's sluggishly paced plot refuses to come

March 30, 2007 Full Review Source: thelondonpaper
thelondonpaper

Featuring excllent performances from Luke and Robbins, Catch A Fire is a mature, thought provoking film.

March 23, 2007 Full Review Source: BBC

Revolutionary struggle in a film uniquely focused on an ordinary but remarkable man.

March 21, 2007 Full Review Source: WBAI Web Radio
WBAI Web Radio

An intelligent thriller that effectively conveys the message that terrorism, even in apartheid-era South Africa, is rarely a black-and-white issue.

March 19, 2007 Full Review Source: Empire Magazine
Empire Magazine

Noyce's blockbuster tour of duty has equipped him with the skills to bring some of the 20th century's most resonant stories to the masses, dressed in the lean gloss of satisfying thrillers.

February 9, 2007 Full Review Source: Reeler

Audience Reviews for Catch a Fire

great film. derek luke and tim robbins put out two great performances and at times in the flick youre not sure which side to root for even though you know apartied is wrong. they really did this well and you can see the struggle of the opressed.
January 25, 2007
sanjurosamurai
danny d

Super Reviewer

Liloh: And I realized nothing has changed. And I dont think South Africa will be ever Free from Whites and their terror against em.

This Movie was more than just a Movie. A great Friends recommendation and long review on her experience and the review on the movie made me watch this Movie twice.

Thank you Lilo
December 22, 2009
ScoopOnline
Wahida K

Super Reviewer

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