Half of a Yellow Sun 2013

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: Disappointing, a romance pastiche that muddles the politics of the period beyond comprehension. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: Like many a lengthy novel, it might have worked better as a television series. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: "Half of a Yellow Sun" winds up being one of those movies in which a pesky event of great historical import keeps getting in the way of a soap-opera romance. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Biyi Bandele has excerpted their story from a much wider-ranging narrative, but the action here is still so tightly compressed that this feels like a precis for a movie twice its length. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The best of the movie finds a way to abridge the novel and still allow the scenes to breathe. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "Half of a Yellow Sun" deals with human tragedy, but it never really makes a human connection. Read more

Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times: It's just not stirring enough as historical drama. Read more

Ben Kenigsberg, New York Times: A well-acted, finely wrought epic that nevertheless struggles to balance the requirements of melodrama with its drive to capture a historical moment. Read more

Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times: The result is that melodramatic soap opera elements win out over Bandele's attempts at stirring historical drama. That said, it's still a story worth telling. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: This well-acted adaptation of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning novel starts like a college soap opera, before turning into a Nigerian Gone with the Wind. Read more

Pete Vonder Haar, Village Voice: Half of a Yellow Sun strikes an admirable balance between drama and history. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: Transporting, well acted, and occasionally powerful. It's also a rushed, maddening mess. Read more