Catch A Fire 2006

Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: Phillip Noyce is admirably restrained in his filmmaking; where other directors would assault the senses, he underplays the beatings Patrick endures without graphic detail. Read more

Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times: As long as there's oppression anywhere, well-told stories like this will always be relevant. Read more

Jessica Reaves, Chicago Tribune: The action, political intrigue and marital tensions (which prove critical as the story unfolds) never quite coalesce into a compelling whole. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Catch a Fire is confident enough to depict the battle from all sides. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Despite Mr. Noyce's attempt to achieve a sense of balance and restraint, the material covers an overly familiar landscape with no special insight or sense of purpose. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The film never strays much beyond the obvious. Read more

Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: An affecting story of punishment and crime, of betrayal and redemption marred by preachiness and a treacly ending, Catch a Fire is notable for its refusal to see things in terms of black and white. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: [The film is] complex. It's rich. I think it's well-done. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The movie is poorly made -- both too simple and too opaque. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Robbins tips the balance with his one-dimensional performance, and the earnest script follows in kind, settling for the sort of paternalistic take on black power and dignity that has dogged virtually every film like this. Read more

Bill Muller, Arizona Republic: The characters are not plot-serving constructs, so they behave in ways that are often contradictory, much like real people. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Phillip Noyce's Catch a Fire shares its name with the classic Bob Marley record. The record is better. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Derek Luke, best known for his Independent Spirit Award-winning lead performance in Antwone Fisher, brings a maturity, gravity and even fury to his richest role to date. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: Catch a Fire could spark a few with this incendiary notion: Torture breeds terrorists. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Philip Noyce's anti-apartheid drama is tense and thoughtful. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: The remarkable South African story Catch a Fire is more than capable of raising and exploring resonant political questions in a Western world obsessed with terrorism. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Catch a Fire blurs the distinction between labels and resonates through today's global conflicts. More importantly, the film offers a taste of the desperation and fear behind the restrictions and the cruelty that whites forced on blacks. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Phillip Noyce embraces the tale with gusto, lighting up a picture that is as much a taut action saga as it is a cautionary history lesson. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: Thanks to its incisive script and the excellent performances of Luke and Robbins, its primary characters are not just black and white, literally or figuratively, but instead are shaded and multidimensional, battling demons and conflicted as hell. Read more

Carla Meyer, Dallas Morning News: Patrick Chamusso, the refinery foreman played by Derek Luke in Catch a Fire, brims with energy, whether he's dancing to a Donna Summer song or coaching the local youth soccer team. Read more

Amy Nicholson, I.E. Weekly: Noyce is now the favorite filmmaker of your local Amnesty International Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: As out-of-Africa dramas go these days, Catch a Fire is downright old-fashioned, a liberal political thriller about a noble black man who stands up to a white imperial monster. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Director Philip Noyce and screenwriter Shawn Slovo lean heavily into the thriller aspects of Chamusso's story, leaving much of the nuance to actors Derek Luke, Bonnie Henna and Tim Robbins. Read more

John Hartl, Newsweek: Smoothly directed by Phillip Noyce, the movie relies heavily on well-staged action sequences and two gifted actors to keep its familiar tale from appearing stale. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: Although Catch a Fire was clearly done for the right reasons, the movie dissipates its own tensions. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Thanks to a terrifically shaded performance by Robbins, Vos comes across as a complex character with clearly ambivalent feelings about his task and his place in the apartheid system. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Catch a Fire ignites, incites and informs as few other movies of the fall do. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: It's possible to see a deeper level to what's on screen but, regardless of whether or not a viewer chooses to engage the film in that way, it's an effective piece of cinema. Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Salon.com: Ultimately, [director Phillip Noyce] does a pretty good job of telling us the cost of freedom; he just can't quite put us inside the skin of the people who had to pay it. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Noyce's straightforward, almost documentary style is especially effective, considering that so many incidents happened pretty much the way they're portrayed. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times: Having first burst on the scene in his groundbreaking title role in Antwone Fisher, Luke delivers here a top-notch performance that is nuanced and layered, with just the right emotional punch. Read more

James Adams, Globe and Mail: This one's a nail-biter, a fast-paced, compulsively watchable political thriller. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Catch a Fire is really a story of tangled loyalties, rather than the political thriller it is being dubiously sold as. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: At its best when making the most of the conflicts at the heart of apartheid. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Catch a Fire is a well-constructed action thriller elevated by (Derek) Luke's performance. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Stories of resistance to oppression will never become obsolete, but this feels like a picture that should have been made a long time ago. Read more

Robert Wilonsky, Village Voice: It's the story of Patrick Chamusso, who intended no harm till harm was done to him. Fact is, he could be just about anyone anywhere -- South Africa, the Middle East, right next door. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: What's most riveting about Catch a Fire is the truth from which it springs. Read more