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HELL AND BACK AGAINMovie Reviews
Documentary about a young Marine sergeant who tries to readjust to civilian life after being seriously wounded in Afghanistan. Cast:Danfung Dennis, Nathan Harris, Ashley HarrisDirector:Danfung DennisRelease Date:October 5, 2011DVD Release:January 24, 2012From:Docurama FilmsLength:1 hr. 28 min.
JANUARY 24, 2012
Hell and Back Again, Excellent Reviews (Doc) Key Cities
Hell and Back Again played in key cities to excellent reviews. • Andrew O'Hehir wrote for Salon, "...in the finest documentary tradition, which honors its subjects by telling their story with great dignity and painful clarity..." • And Tirdad Derakhshani wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer, "...superb, violent, jarring, daring... lays bare the truth of war - its hellish quality..." More Reviews Below...
Hell and Back Again Positive Reviews (19 Reviews, reviews below)
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one of the year's nominees for the best documentary Oscar.... builds to an emotional and stylistic power that we didn't see coming."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 02/24/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (9 Reviews)
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: VERY GOOD "You can feel just how jarring and stressful it must be for a soldier to go from the life-and-death adrenaline rush of war to the maddeningly slow world of rehabilitation..."(See all of Neil Genzlinger's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 307 words, 10/05/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Artistic reach meets hypnotic intimacy... a full-circle portrait of rare psychological immediacy and even rarer aesthetic command..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 254 words, 10/14/11
V.A. Musetto, New York Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the message of Dennis' film -- a breathlessly paced look at the realities of war -- is clear: War and its aftermath are indeed hell."(See all of V.A. Musetto's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 364 words, 10/05/11
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...one of the year's nominees for the best documentary Oscar.... builds to an emotional and stylistic power that we didn't see coming."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 828 words, 02/24/12
Michelle Orange, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Shot in stunning, khaki-crisp digital with the Canon 5D Mark II, a Marine's eyes have never looked this blue, nor blood so red."(See all of Michelle Orange's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 305 words, 10/05/11
Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "We're left to decide which wounds go the deepest... an emotionally shattering story of how a family copes with a returning soldier who may never heal, inside or out."(See all of Linda Barnard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 333 words, 08/24/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Danfung Dennis has a terrific eye; this is one of the best-looking docs I've seen in years.... emotionally immediate and formally accomplished..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 203 words, 08/23/12
KEY CITIES (4 Reviews)
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: VERY GOOD(cg) "...packs a lot into a little documentary, switching between intense Afghan war footage and scenes of the slower-moving, but no less intense, stateside recovery..."(See all of Michael O'Sullivan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 542 words, 11/18/11
Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...superb, violent, jarring, daring... lays bare the truth of war - its hellish quality - with such power, you're not likely to look at this, or any other conflict, the same way again."(See all of Tirdad Derakhshani's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 217 words, 11/04/11
Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...an ingenious artistic disturbance.... Danfung Dennis's film attempts something few documentaries have: to inhabit the psyche of its subject."(See all of Wesley Morris's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 827 words, 01/06/12
Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "...may be the closest most civilians ever get to the reality of the war in Afghanistan... Filmmaker Danfung Dennis is a subscriber to the fly-on-the-wall documentary school..."(See all of Walter Addiego's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 171 words, 10/21/11
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (6 Reviews)
Michelle Orange, Village Voice/LA Weekly: EXCELLENT "Shot in stunning, khaki-crisp digital with the Canon 5D Mark II, a Marine's eyes have never looked this blue, nor blood so red."(See all of Michelle Orange's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 305 words, 10/05/11
Gerald Peary, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...the real-life story of a young marine, Sergeant Nathan Harris, who is brilliant and an inspiring leader in battle but lost and dazed on the home front..."(See all of Gerald Peary's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 132 words, 01/05/12
Alison Willmore, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "...portrays the dizzying divide between war and recovery eloquently enough that those choices seem like intrusions instead of connections... a devastating profile of a soldier."(See all of Alison Willmore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 10/06/11
Lauren Wissot, Slant: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Dennis is able to uncover the fragility beneath the gung-ho attitude and body armor without flinching from the complicated and messy reality these men reside in."(See all of Lauren Wissot's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 10/02/11
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "Danfung Dennis has a terrific eye; this is one of the best-looking docs I've seen in years.... emotionally immediate and formally accomplished..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 203 words, 08/23/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: VERY GOOD "You can feel just how jarring and stressful it must be for a soldier to go from the life-and-death adrenaline rush of war to the maddeningly slow world of rehabilitation..."(See all of Neil Genzlinger's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 307 words, 10/05/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Artistic reach meets hypnotic intimacy... a full-circle portrait of rare psychological immediacy and even rarer aesthetic command..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 254 words, 10/14/11
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: OUTSTANDING "...in the finest documentary tradition, which honors its subjects by telling their story with great dignity and painful clarity and leaving judgment to history."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 909 words, 10/06/11
MOVIE INDUSTRY (4 Reviews)
Robert Koehler, Daily Variety: VERY GOOD "It's the achievement of 'Hell and Back Again' that what sounds to the civilian like macho boasting or emotional cover is in fact the honest truth."(See all of Robert Koehler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 523 words, 01/25/11
Duane Byrge, Hollywood Reporter: OUTSTANDING "...gut-wrenching, tender... brilliantly edited by Fiona Otway, who interconnects the Afghan front-line battle scenes with the home-front struggles with coherent eloquence."(See all of Duane Byrge's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 549 words, 01/30/11
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: OUTSTANDING "Artistic reach meets hypnotic intimacy... a full-circle portrait of rare psychological immediacy and even rarer aesthetic command..."(See all of Robert Abele's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 254 words, 10/14/11
Neil Genzlinger, New York Times: VERY GOOD "You can feel just how jarring and stressful it must be for a soldier to go from the life-and-death adrenaline rush of war to the maddeningly slow world of rehabilitation..."(See all of Neil Genzlinger's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 307 words, 10/05/11
10.3 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Hell and Back Again's reviews are separated by an average 10.3 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Hell and Back Again (19 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Hell and Back Again's reviews cover 20.5% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 7,976 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 420 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Hell and Back Again Coverage, Volume & Length (19 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 37 Days After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Hell and Back Again's reviews on average broke 37 days after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Hell and Back Again's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Hell and Back Again (19 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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