64
Metascore
9 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottNew Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottSongs such as "We Shall Overcome," "Wade in the Water" and "This Little Light of Mine" are powerful to begin with. Listening to them, music-video-style, over footage shot during the era, however, elevates them.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterWith young audiences definitely in mind, the film puts a fresh spin on the issues and struggles of the civil-rights movement.
- 75Washington PostAnn HornadayWashington PostAnn HornadayThrough vivid archival material and voice-overs, the filmmakers create moving vignettes that, taken together, form a fascinating primer on nonviolence as a political force and discipline.
- It’s the kind of film that will have audiences clapping and singing along. And why not? The images and stories may be familiar, but it’s history worth retelling.
- 63New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithThe film is primarily interested in the music that accompanied this turmoil, which is a bit like covering the American Revolution with the focus on the wigs Washington and Jefferson wore.
- 63Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyThe music is the occasion, and it’s stirring. What linger, though, are the images — and the ideals and emotions they convey.
- 60Time OutDavid FearTime OutDavid FearEven if you’ve seen this footage of the sit-ins at Southern diners, the Selma-to-Montgomery marches and Martin Luther King Jr.’s funeral before, you can’t help but be moved to your core.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckThe Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckPerhaps best suited for younger audiences, who will be more receptive to a vital history lesson only if it's given a music video-style treatment.
- 60Village VoiceVillage VoiceMore often than not, these musical interludes are more like distractions aimed only to entice younger audiences (not a terrible thing).