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Malick-inspired but not as inspired as Malick, The Better Angels muffles an interesting idea under ponderous execution.
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (27)
It feels more like a poem. Or, at times, a symphony. But it's much less effective as an actual movie. Nov 21, 2014 | Rating: C- | Full Review…
It feels more like a poem. Or, at times, a symphony. But it's much less effective as an actual movie.
Jeff Labrecque
"God tells truths in parables," someone says - a line that Edwards most likely aspires to take possession of, as if his poetic, pictorial parable had its own truths to tell. Nov 21, 2014 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
"God tells truths in parables," someone says - a line that Edwards most likely aspires to take possession of, as if his poetic, pictorial parable had its own truths to tell.
Steven Rea
A gorgeous look at the raw, wooded Indiana of the early 1800s and a dreamy study of the boy Lincoln who was destined to leave it behind. Nov 14, 2014 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
A gorgeous look at the raw, wooded Indiana of the early 1800s and a dreamy study of the boy Lincoln who was destined to leave it behind.
Brad Wheeler
History, as subject matter, is hard enough to sell as cinema. The Better Angels will not make the struggle any easier. Nov 13, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4 | Full Review…
History, as subject matter, is hard enough to sell as cinema. The Better Angels will not make the struggle any easier.
Bruce DeMara
Had Terrence Malick taken a shot at making a Ken Burns movie, it would probably have turned out better than "The Better Angels," A.J. Edwards's humorless, pretentious black-and-white tone poem about a very young Abe Lincoln. Nov 13, 2014 | Rating: 2/4 | Full Review…
Had Terrence Malick taken a shot at making a Ken Burns movie, it would probably have turned out better than "The Better Angels," A.J. Edwards's humorless, pretentious black-and-white tone poem about a very young Abe Lincoln.
Peter Keough
Narrators tell us what to feel, but there's something hollow at the center. The tone of the picture seems perversely oblique. Nov 13, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4
Narrators tell us what to feel, but there's something hollow at the center. The tone of the picture seems perversely oblique.
John Hartl
The Better Angels makes for a sublime, transfixing, and informative look at the early life of Abraham Lincoln. Jun 21, 2016 | Rating: A- | Full Review…
The Better Angels makes for a sublime, transfixing, and informative look at the early life of Abraham Lincoln.
Jordan Raup
Visually, Angels is a true work of art. Each and every frame of Matthew J. Lloyd's black-and-white cinematography is suitable for framing. May 22, 2016 | Rating: 4/5 | Full Review…
Visually, Angels is a true work of art. Each and every frame of Matthew J. Lloyd's black-and-white cinematography is suitable for framing.
Joe Bendel
Kudos to this young director for making quite a good film -- even if the guiding hand of Malick is present in every shot. Aug 4, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/5 | Full Review…
Kudos to this young director for making quite a good film -- even if the guiding hand of Malick is present in every shot.
Derek Smith
A dreamlike reverie as well as a uniquely American origin story... Mar 31, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
A dreamlike reverie as well as a uniquely American origin story...
John Beifuss
Lovely and poetic, if entirely too sketchy and Terrence Malick-like for its own good Jan 5, 2015 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…
Lovely and poetic, if entirely too sketchy and Terrence Malick-like for its own good
Roger Moore
Contemplative but pretentious drama about Lincoln's boyhood. Jan 5, 2015 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…
Contemplative but pretentious drama about Lincoln's boyhood.
Sandie Angulo Chen
Edwards doesn't even try to hide the obvious and unoriginal way that he emulates Malick's style, and he seems more concerned with creating a powerful meditative experience than offering any real insight into what shaped Lincoln in his childhood to become the man he would be.
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