A Place at the Table 2012

Mary F. Pols, TIME Magazine: It specifically addresses our country's hunger crisis. But it also speaks to larger hungers. Hungers for independence, a dignified life, a better chance for ones children-in short, the American dream. See it and weep. Read more

Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times: Revealing little that a moderately informed viewer will not already know, the film shies away from the outrage and bare-knuckle journalism that this shameful topic deserves. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: In addition to the dismaying facts and figures is a fuller sense of what hunger can look like, and feel like, among the millions of Americans classified as "food-insecure" ... Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: So many of the words spoken in Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush's moving documentary about hunger in the U.S., "A Place at the Table," will haunt you long after the film is over. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: A graceless info-dump bracketed by interviews with activists and a handful of personal stories from suffering families around the country. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: A tighter focus, or even just a voiceover narration, might have helped. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Their stories are wrenching and provide a functional framework for the directors to make some important points about hunger in America. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: One thing is clear from "A Place at the Table": You cannot answer the question "Why are people hungry?," without also asking "Why are people poor?" Read more

Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: You don't have to be a fan of info-graphics in social-justice docs to be troubled by one showing that the price of processed food has decreased in almost exact proportion to the rise in cost of fresh fruits and vegetables. Read more

Justin Lowe, Hollywood Reporter: Impassioned doc examines the reemergence of widespread hunger in U.S. Read more

Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times: The filmmakers vividly illustrate the power and depth of the long-spiraling problem of "food insecurity" by immersing us in the hardscrabble lives of a cross section of our nation's poor. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: As rich as we are as a nation - still - many of our citizens are, at best, malnourished. One in six says they regularly don't have enough to eat. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: As important and eye-opening a documentary as you'll see this year, "A Place at the Table" makes it impossible to think of hunger as merely another symptom of a shredded social safety net. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A Place at the Table is advocacy journalism at its best, lining up its facts, illustrating the widespread problem with a few trenchant and compelling cases, and offering solutions. Read more

Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times: A good documentary that is good for you. Read more

Walter V. Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle: "A Place at the Table" presents a shameful truth that should leave viewers dismayed and angry: This nation has more than enough food for all its people, yet millions of them are hungry. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: A well-reported and devastating look at hunger in rural America. Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: Hunger in America is not about a shortage of food but an abundance of poverty. This is where the spiral spins downward. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: A shocking indictment of how people are starving in the land of plenty ... Read more

Keith Phipps, Time Out: As an info dump, Table is admirably efficient, addressing everything from obesity to the limits of charity. As a film, it's less compelling ... Read more

John Anderson, Variety: Finding North is a useful, engaging and enraging movie that will enlist supporters for its cause. Read more

Chris Packham, Village Voice: Through their stories, Jacobson and Silverbush lens a broader picture of rampant hunger in a country that actually produces astounding amounts of food. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: It deserves to be seen, along with "Food, Inc.," "King Corn" and other muckraking food docs of recent years. Read more