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WEST OF MEMPHISMovie Reviews
Documentary about the fight to free three men wrongly accused of murder in Arkansas, with new information about the controversial case of the West Memphis 3. Cast:Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, Jessie Misskelley Jr., Lorri Davis, Eddie Vedder, David Burnett, Blake Sisk, Cody GottDirector:Amy BergRelease Date:December 25, 2012DVD Release: TBD From:Sony ClassicsRating:RLength:2 hr 26 min
West of Memphis, Excellent Reviews (Doc) Key Cities
West of Memphis played in key cities to excellent reviews. • Curt Holman wrote in Atlanta Creative Loafing, "...compelling.... presents a highly powerful argument, with enough moral indignation and narrative drive to propel the story for nearly two and a half hours." More Reviews Below...
West of Memphis Positive Reviews (37 Reviews, reviews below)
Alynda Wheat, People: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...works not simply to clear three men convicted of killing three Arkansas boys in 1993 but to convincingly name another party.... It's gripping stuff."(See all of Alynda Wheat's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 33 words, 01/03/13
David Germain, Associated Press: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...nonfiction filmmaking at its best, a film with a fierce point of view yet one that doesn't pretend to have all the answers or a monopoly on truth."(See all of David Germain's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 745 words, 12/24/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...casts a hypnotic spell... the film reframes the story's terrible darkness, even if it can't give us the closure we hunger for."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 273 words, 01/11/13
Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...shockingly detailed and grisly... The film argues that the state considered it more important to protect itself than the rights of the defendants."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 729 words, 01/18/13
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (12 Reviews)
Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...a work of fierce documentary advocacy... Inspiring but infuriating... Even more angering than the partial vindication is the film's vision of unequal justice in America."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 779 words, 12/25/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: WEAK(cg) "...anything but objective... constant comments from Eddie Vedder, Natalie Maines and especially Peter Jackson feels like a deluge of dilettantes."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 254 words, 12/25/12
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times/Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD "...a strong, blood-boiling documentary... While Berg offers a compelling perspective, one wonders if her film appears weaker because of her chosen collaborators."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 354 words, 12/25/12
Sara Stewart, New York Post: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...compelling and comprehensive.... it's perhaps not surprising the film runs to rather extreme lengths for a feature documentary, clocking in at 2 1/2 hours."(See all of Sara Stewart's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 210 words, 12/21/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...shockingly detailed and grisly... The film argues that the state considered it more important to protect itself than the rights of the defendants."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 729 words, 01/18/13
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "This is a movie that can stun you.... the most rare of films: one that indisputably matters.... What is more terrifying: killers or accusers?"(See all of Alan Scherstuhl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 930 words, 12/19/12
Bruce DeMara, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Be prepared to be outraged, truly outraged.... Berg's greatest achievement is in telling an immensely complex story in a way that is both tension-filled and easy to follow."(See all of Bruce DeMara's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 577 words, 02/01/13
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "That the West Memphis Three were lucky enough to gain the attention of deep-pocketed, powerful celebrities before getting justice seems chillingly arbitrary."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 673 words, 02/01/13
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "The film organizes two decades of investigation and activism into a comprehensive two-and-half-hour narrative, re-interviewing key figures from new angles..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 01/31/13
KEY CITIES (12 Reviews)
Gary Thompson, Philadelphia Inquirer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...chilling for the way it shows how friends and family of the accused go along with the process, grimly resigned to the sense that punishment must always balance crime."(See all of Gary Thompson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 552 words, 02/08/13
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...turns a mine field of complexity into a lucid and engaging nonfiction mystery story. It has the intellectual heft of fact and the emotional impact of fiction."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 322 words, 03/08/13
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...outstanding... you come away from the film impressed by the storytelling but enraged by the facts. It's outrageous that this kind of thing happens..."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 695 words, 01/25/13
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Berg, who took on pedophile priests in 'Deliver Us From Evil' (2006), stands back to take the measure of the whole story, letting its entire awful shape come into focus."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 787 words, 03/15/13
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: VERY GOOD(cg) "Berg is a smart filmmaker (her last documentary was the child-abuse exposé, 'Deliver Us From Evil') and she tells her story cleanly and clearly. Dramatically, too..."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 487 words, 12/25/12
Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD(cg) "You may know the case from the 'Paradise Lost' trilogy, previous documentaries made by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky for HBO starting in 1996."(See all of Walter Addiego's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 536 words, 02/08/13
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Berg, an Oscar-nominated documentarian for 'Deliver Us from Evil,' quickly and meticulously sketches in the early details of the story, then gets to the heart of it..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 379 words, 03/15/13
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: OUTSTANDING(cg) "In addition to providing a gripping summation of the entire sordid saga, director Amy Berg ('Deliver Us From Evil') adds more layers of investigative detail..."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 345 words, 03/08/13
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "...we feel like we're watching an overlong true-crime television episode and not a movie.... a seemingly positive outcome is offset by a seemingly unresolved mystery."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 375 words, 03/22/13
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...an expert condensing of the facts and how they've been distorted and ignored by Arkansas' judicial system.... you can never learn its lessons often enough."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 469 words, 02/28/13
Tom Long, Detroit News: EXCELLENT(cg) "It's not a new story, true, but this film makes it both extremely personal and universally painful. Devil worshippers. Sure."(See all of Tom Long's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 272 words, 04/05/13
Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice/LA Weekly: OUTSTANDING "This is a movie that can stun you.... the most rare of films: one that indisputably matters.... What is more terrifying: killers or accusers?"(See all of Alan Scherstuhl's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 930 words, 12/19/12
Jake Mulligan, Boston Phoenix: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...an aesthetic blender. One moment Berg tries to inspire with shots of flying birds set to 'The Times They Are a-Changin'; then she attempts a procedural detailing the case."(See all of Jake Mulligan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 405 words, 03/14/13
Noel Murray, AV Club: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a well-assembled, well-argued doc that shows how our advocacy model of trial law can lead to the state spinning stories they know are probably untrue..."(See all of Noel Murray's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 363 words, 01/22/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: VERY GOOD(cg) "...less concerned with doing the work that police should do or should have done than with showing the profound effects of the errors..."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 558 words, 11/14/12
Tomas Hachard, Slant: VERY GOOD(cg) "...puts forward its own theory of who killed the three children... the doc makes a good argument for reopening the case and investigating the man more closely."(See all of Tomas Hachard's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 592 words, 12/19/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT(cg) "The film organizes two decades of investigation and activism into a comprehensive two-and-half-hour narrative, re-interviewing key figures from new angles..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 01/31/13
Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: EXCELLENT(cg) "...compelling.... presents a highly powerful argument, with enough moral indignation and narrative drive to propel the story for nearly two and a half hours."(See all of Curt Holman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 650 words, 02/20/13
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: VERY GOOD(cg) "Peter Jackson didn't just hire and pay private investigators to re-examine crime scenes and hunt for new evidence, he was obviously intimately involved..."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 12/20/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (4 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...tells the story with unprecedented clarity. Ms. Berg has a dramatist's eye for what was irretrievably lost -- the innocent lives..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 12/28/12
Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...a work of fierce documentary advocacy... Inspiring but infuriating... Even more angering than the partial vindication is the film's vision of unequal justice in America."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 779 words, 12/25/12
Linda Holmes, NPR: GOOD "...while the film won't surprise anyone who's followed the case, it does play its own role, particularly in illuminating how unsatisfying the end of the story really was."(See all of Linda Holmes's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,081 words, 09/07/12
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...a strong, blood-boiling documentary... While Berg offers a compelling perspective, one wonders if her film appears weaker because of her chosen collaborators."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 354 words, 12/25/12
John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...delivers a gripping overall picture of the West Memphis 3 wrongful-conviction saga.... Thorny, blood-boiling and finely made.... The film earns every minute of its screen time."(See all of John DeFore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 589 words, 01/20/12
Michael Phillips, Los Angeles Times: VERY GOOD "...a strong, blood-boiling documentary... While Berg offers a compelling perspective, one wonders if her film appears weaker because of her chosen collaborators."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 354 words, 12/25/12
Stephen Holden, New York Times: EXCELLENT "...a work of fierce documentary advocacy... Inspiring but infuriating... Even more angering than the partial vindication is the film's vision of unequal justice in America."(See all of Stephen Holden's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 779 words, 12/25/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: VERY GOOD "...tells the story with unprecedented clarity. Ms. Berg has a dramatist's eye for what was irretrievably lost -- the innocent lives..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 407 words, 12/28/12
13.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
West of Memphis's reviews are separated by an average 13.0 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.
West of Memphis (37 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:West of Memphis's reviews cover 59.1% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 18,996 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 513 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
West of Memphis Coverage, Volume & Length (37 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 4.3 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
West of Memphis's reviews on average broke 4.3 hours before 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 West of Memphis's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
West of Memphis (37 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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