In the Name of the Father 1993

Gene Siskel, Chicago Tribune: Daniel Day-Lewis is remarkable. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: In the Name of the Father is a model of this kind of engaged, enraged filmmaking, a politically charged Fugitive that uses one of the most celebrated cases of recent British history to steamroller an audience with the power of rousing, polemical cinema. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: The complicated relationship between the rebellious Gerry and the quietly tormented Giuseppe is one focus of the film. The obvious political implications of the dreadful situation are another. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: Day-Lewis, so intricately repressed in The Age of Innocence, here offers a role reversal in an unreserved and emotional performance that throws caution and inhibition to the winds. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: At every point, Day-Lewis is at the center of the story, and he carries the film with an impassioned performance. It helps that it's a great part. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: The acting's so good it frequently transcends the simplicities of the script, and whenever Day-Lewis or Postlethwaite is on-screen the movie crackles. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: [Sheridan] works with such piercing fervor and intelligence that In the Name of the Father just about transcends its tidy moral design. Read more

Terrence Rafferty, New Yorker: The picture turns into a kind of stylized morality play about the right and the wrong ways for Irishmen to respond to distorted portraits of their character, and it's terrifically effective. Read more

Francis X. Clines, New York Times: The film offers layers of dramatic detail for those who might be confused at points but teased to inquire further. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The brilliance of Jim Sheridan's motion picture is that we come to view every event from the perspective of how it impacts on the relationship between Gerry and his father, in whose name the final struggle is fought. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: [Day-Lewis] proves here once again that he is one of the most talented and interesting actors of his generation. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: By the end of the movie, whether or not you're a member of Sinn Fein, the Brits' brutality toward the Conlons will get your Irish up. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: Sheridan's movie seeks to engage and enrage. It's not, however, a film with an ideological axe to sharpen, but one which unfolds, with a sense of passionate conviction, a story of injustice. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Variety: Miscarried justice often provides the vehicle for emotionally wrenching drama and histrionic fireworks, and such is the case in spades with In the Name of the Father. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: As good a compromise of fact and fiction as you could hope for -- and still call it a movie. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: The film takes forever to do what 60 Minutes does with the same meat in a single segment. Read more