When the Levees Broke (2006)
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Reviews Counted: 29
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 1
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 0
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.4/5
User Ratings: 5,558
My Rating
Movie Info
Academy Award-nominated director Spike Lee (the guiding force behind the critically acclaimed documentary 4 Little Girls) turns to nonfiction filmmaking once again with the heart-wrenching marathon work When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, produced by Lee's Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks and originally screened on HBO. In four "acts" of approximately one hour each, Lee examines the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina in the late summer of 2005 and the incorrigible response to
Aug 16, 2006 Wide
Dec 19, 2006
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (30) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (31) | Rotten (2) | DVD (8)
The same didactic instincts that sometimes mar Lee's fictional filmmaking serve him well as a documentarian and eulogist.
Top CriticSurely the most magnificent and large-souled record of a great American tragedy ever put on film.
What breaks your heart is the film's accumulated firsthand stories of New Orleans residents who lost everything in the flood after Hurricane Katrina, and the dismaying conclusion that a year after the disaster, the broken city has been largely abandoned.
When the Levees Broke is like the New Orleans jazz funeral -- a dirge on the way to the cemetery, an up-tempo parade in the deceased's honor on the bittersweet walk back home.
Do the flaws diminish Levees? To a degree. But the story Lee tells is so powerful, so important, that the lapses aren't a reason not to pay heed to what this passionate film has to say.
It's something to make a point to see.
Spike Lee's masterful and disturbing Katrina docu.
There's no way to truly distill this triumph into a handful of words. The ghosts of so many color the corners of a mournful poem and a powerful prayer that's pissed off, hopeful, practical, empathetic and one of the most important documentaries ever made.
This masterpiece of human movie making acts as an indictment of a system that still uses race and class as a determining factor when it comes to relief - and paints a shocking portrait of a society lost in mixed meanings and misguided messages.
Arguably Lee's best effort since Do the Right Thing.
...provides an extraordinarily detailed look at this event, and its worth is sure to be felt increasingly as the memories fade and the anger softens with time and distance.
Despite capturing many heartbreaking aspects of the disaster, this is essentially an overambitious mess which ultimately fails to convey effectively the scale or scope of the ongoing tragedy.
It's the depth and weight of Freeman Jr's or Michael Wright's or Phyllis Leblanc's words, the anger and sadness behind them, that surge forth here, sinking the political elite's murderously empty promises.
Despite capturing many heartbreaking aspects of the disaster, this is essentially an overambitious mess which ultimately fails to convey effectively the scale or scope of the ongoing tragedy.
In this golden era of documentary filmmaking, When the Levess Broke is among the very best films of the past year, fiction and non-fiction alike.
...what should have been a searing, powerful documentary generally comes off as a rough cut that's desperately in need of some judicious editing.
It's an honest, fair and unflinching look at one of the greatest, and saddest, natural disasters to hit our shores.
Audience Reviews for When the Levees Broke
Super Reviewer
But this documentary is so INCREDIBLY well done that I can forgive him some of the mediocre/crappy films he has made prior to this.
Spike brings a face (several actually) and a heart (albeit broken) to the tragic events following hurricane Katrina.
An event that is a true disgrace to our country and the good people of the gulf coast. And will forever be a scar on the face of our history as Americans.
If this film doesn't bring tears to your eyes, an ache to your heart and a ball of anger to your stomach...then you are either heartless or a Republican (possibly both?).
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for When the Levees Broke yet.
Latest News on When the Levees Broke
June 29, 2011:
Will Smith Wants Denzel Washington for American CanOne megastar seeks another megastar to fill the megastar-sized void in his Katrina-inspired project.
August 20, 2010:
Spike Lee Talks If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't RiseIn a new interview with Collider, Spike Lee offers a behind-the-scenes look at his new HBO...
August 18, 2008:
New Katrina Doc Continues a Tale of SurvivalRelatively few of them have reached the screen, but a number of films examining the aftermath of...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Weekly Ketchup: Fox and Marvel Both Courting Quicksilver for Comic Blockbusters 22
- Critics Consensus: Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh 61
- Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More 0
- Video: The Hangover Part III Cast Interviews 0
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 49
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 16
Top Headlines
-
Evan Peters Joins X-Men: Days of Future Past
0
-
Toby Jones Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1
-
The Poltergeist Reboot May Actually Be a Sequel
17
-
Will Forte Promises MacGruber 2
4
-
Universal Plans Timecop Reboot
2
-
Return of the Jedi Turns 30
1
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
