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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 critic A-Z)
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Jackson appears uncomfortable in his role, the scenes leading up to his romantic involvement are strangely unconvincing and the arc of both characters' emotional and political growth is choppy and contrived.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
03/24/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Ugly secrets unfold in staccato succession with the intent to incite but inspiring only groans.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
03/14/05
Jeanne Aufmuth
Jeanne Aufmuth
Palo Alto Weekly

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)

An academic dis-cussion punctuated by shots of magnificent countryside harboring unspeakable grief.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
04/02/05
Jami Bernard
Jami Bernard
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

In My Country accomplishes its goal -- but does so largely through obvious plot devices.

Full Review Source: SPLICEDWire | comment Comment
03/10/05
Rob Blackwelder
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire

Worth seeing for many reasons, including for the obvious educational aspects.

Full Review Source: Jam! Movies | comment Comment
04/08/05
Liz Braun
Liz Braun
Jam! Movies

Offers a rounded and revealing story of the radical experiment in restorative justice in South Africa following the downfall of apartheid.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
03/03/05
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

High-minded and tin-eared, it finds one of our greatest blood-poets staggering around "forgiveness," unable to suss out a visual vocabulary for this strange, new language.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Weekly | comment Comment
03/31/05
Sean Burns
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly

The film, an international co-production about the aftermath of South African apartheid, has won peace awards and comes with a thumbs up from Nelson Mandela himself, none of which make its contrivances easier to swallow.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
03/18/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A wasted opportunity to tell in filmic terms two important histories: the crimes of apartheid and the love with which they were answered.

Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | comment Comment
03/10/05
Peter Canavese
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews

Make love, not war.

Full Review Source: Film Freak Central | comment Comment
03/11/05
Walter Chaw
Walter Chaw
Film Freak Central

Because Ann Peacock's pedestrian script couldn't make any movie come to life, our interest in these two characters is nil.

Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
03/10/05
Mike Clark
Mike Clark
USA Today
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Black, white and clunky.

Full Review Source: Globe and Mail | comment Comment
04/11/05
Stephen Cole
Stephen Cole
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's always a bit sad when a good director takes aim at an important target and misses.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
03/25/05
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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

A convoluted plot that takes away from the film's important central message

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
03/09/05
Edward Douglas
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net

Earnest but soggy melodrama that preaches to the converted.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/11/05
Daniel Eagan
Daniel Eagan
Film Journal International

There is something not quite right about the film itself.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
04/01/05
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

See In My Country anyway, because it's doubtful we'll get another movie too soon that raises the issue of vengeance versus forgiveness -- and endorses the latter in the name of a nation's spiritual well-being.

Full Review Source: Slate | comment Comment
03/11/05
David Edelstein
David Edelstein
Slate

The combo of cultural cringe and a schematic, didactic screenplay strangles the human emotion.

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/07/05
Derek Elley
Derek Elley
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
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