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In My Country

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In My Country (2005)

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Reviews Counted:80

Fresh:18

Rotten:62

Average Rating:4.8/10

Consensus: A well-intentioned but melodramatic look at post-Apartheid South Africa.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for language, including descriptions of atrocities

Runtime: 1 hr 44 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release:Mar 11, 2005 Limited

Synopsis: Langston Whitfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is a Washington Post journalist. His editor provocatively sends him to South Africa to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in which the... Langston Whitfield (Samuel L. Jackson) is a Washington Post journalist. His editor provocatively sends him to South Africa to cover the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings, in which the perpetrators of murder and torture on both sides during the Apartheid era are invited to come forward and confront their victims. By telling the unvarnished truth and expressing contrition, they may be granted amnesty. Can the deep wounds of Apartheid be healed through reconciliation? Langston is deeply sceptical. He tracks down Col. De Jager, the most notorious torturer in the SA Police and tries to penetrate the mind of a monster, an experience that obliges him to confront his own demons. Anna Malan (Juliette Binoche), is an Afrikaans poet who is covering the hearings for radio. As a white South African she is shattered by the accounts of the cruelty and depravity committed by her fellow countrymen. Anna and Langston must both question their sense of identity. Where do they each belong? How responsible are they for what is done in the name of their respective countries? The moving testimony of the victims affects them deeply. In different ways they are both estranged from their families, and their shared experience draws them ever closer to each other. It is a story charting the unfathomable depths of human cruelty and the redeeming power of forgiveness and love. -- © Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Samuel L. Jackson, Brendan Gleeson, Menzi "Ngubs" Ngubane

Starring: Juliette Binoche, Samuel L. Jackson, Brendan Gleeson, Menzi "Ngubs" Ngubane

Director: John Boorman

Director: John Boorman
Screenwriter: Ann Peacock
Producer: Robert Chartoff, Mike Medavoy, Kieran Corrigan
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics

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Release:

Jul 5, 2005

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Reviews for In My Country

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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In spite of narrative missteps that negate the possibility of an empathetic protagonist, "In My Country" does viably introduce the African principle of "Ubuntu" whereby evil transgressions are absolved rather than revenged.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
04/16/09
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
08/16/07
Nigel Floyd
Nigel Floyd
Time Out New York
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Time Out
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
05/26/06
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

A familiar, superficial lesson.

Full Review Source: F5 (Wichita, KS) | comment Comment
04/22/06
Jake Euker
Jake Euker
F5 (Wichita, KS)
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
09/26/05
AV Club

Points for trying and all, but this particular chapter of South Africa's history deserves a movie a bit more sincere -- and a lot less corny.

Full Review Source: DVDTalk.com | comment Comment
07/21/05
Scott Weinberg
Scott Weinberg
DVDTalk.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
07/05/05
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

It shows what can go wrong when a good-intentioned filmmaker mixes historical tragedy with Hollywood banality.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
06/09/05
Richard Nilsen
Richard Nilsen
Arizona Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Intelligent piece that does its job as entertainment. More importantly, it should advance public knowledge about the apartheid government's human rights violations.

Full Review Source: Reno Gazette-Journal | comment Comment
06/02/05
Forrest Hartman
Forrest Hartman
Reno Gazette-Journal

Watching [apartheid victims’] testimony become background noise for Jackson and Binoche's tawdry melodrama is aggravating.

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
05/13/05
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

Its star, Juliette Binoche, may be a fine actress, but she's also very French. And no matter how hard she tries to perfect the tricky Afrikaans accent, she's simply not believable playing a South African poet.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/13/05
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

I do not question the filmmaker's sincerity, but he has made a flat, uninvolving movie. The road to boredom is paved with good intentions, after all.

Full Review Source: EricDSnider.com | comment Comment
05/09/05
Eric D. Snider
Eric D. Snider
EricDSnider.com

...the foxhole relationship that develops between Anna and Langston is completely natural -- up until the point where they fall into bed together.

Full Review Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
04/29/05
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The gripping material is given short thrift in favor of routine melodrama and a love story that has nearly nothing to do with what should be the crux of the story.

Full Review Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | comment Comment
04/28/05
Paul Doro
Paul Doro
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

There is great material here and ample food for thought, but the presentation is lacking.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
04/23/05
Marrit Ingman
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle

Ostensibly about the aftermath of apartheid, but the pain of a people serves only as a backdrop for the most contrived of love stories.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
04/22/05
John Monaghan
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

You feel insulted you're expected to care about the petty problems of the leads when other characters are dealing with child murder, political torture and genocide.

Full Review Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
04/22/05
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

[E]xhaustingly heartbreaking... An unforgettable film about justice...

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
04/22/05
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

We want to know more about the stories of real-life South Africans, but the Oscar nominees keep standing right in front of them.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
04/14/05
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
 
 
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