Sweet Land 2005

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: As Sweet Land demonstrates, bigotry is vulnerable, and love is universal. Sweet Land is a fervent movie poem to that love -- and to family, land, lost times and old beginnings. Read more

John Hartl, Seattle Times: [Director Ali] Selim grounds the story so firmly in its characters that he never hits a false note. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: It's beautiful. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Sweet and low-key, Sweet Land is a movie that likely will leave you wishing you liked it more. Read more

Annemarie Moody, Arizona Republic: A spare yet meaningful script, subtly deep performances and a starkly beautiful landscape combine in Sweet Land to tell a love story that is as much about the land as it is about two people. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: A lovely, old-fashioned farm romance quietly doubling as a comment on immigration and American identity. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: ... a beautifully photographed film ... that celebrates its regional identity. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: As opposed to the bulk of low-budget films, the look here is lush and beautifully crafted; even the make-up is excellent. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: If Terrence Malick could ever banish the wispy art clouds from his brain and give in to the storyteller inside, perhaps he might make a movie as stirring as Sweet Land. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: A film of uncommon grace, one that transports you to an America that seems innately familiar even though you have never seen it depicted on-screen quite like this before. Read more

Dallas Morning News: Read more

Gene Seymour, Newsday: Selim, cinematographer David Tumbelty and a superb cast work together to create a believable, poignant and haunting evocation of a long-lost way of life. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: A love story and an elegy, Sweet Land is a meaningful film that makes its points with subtlety. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Selim's script doesn't hit new territory, but beautiful cinematography takes it just far enough. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: Terrific acting, a perfectly captured period setting, and a simple, aching farm courtship, that's all Sweet Land is. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: If its drama of German and Norwegian newcomers on the plains of southern Minnesota is modest enough, it's also clearly a labor of love. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: Sweet Land is an unusual look at love and how it can unexpectedly develop. Those for whom the concept of an arranged marriage is foreign will get a little history lesson on the immigrant experience watching this sweetly engrossing film. Read more

Jeff Strickler, Minneapolis Star Tribune: This is an intelligently told story that relies on intriguing characters and enticingly mellow pacing that reflects the story's setting. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

David Jenkins, Time Out: Echoing Malick's 'Days of Heaven' in the way it captures the majesty of the American countryside, this is a small gem that's worth seeking out. Read more

Ronnie Scheib, Variety: Intelligently written, brilliantly cast and thesped story of a German mail order bride in a Norwegian-American community in Minnesota just after WWI never hits a wrong note. Read more

Rob Nelson, Village Voice: Directing with a light comic touch and a palpable affection for the characters, Selim draws pitch-perfect acting from a large cast (John Heard, Ned Beatty, Alan Cumming, Alex Kingston, and Lois Smith) and achieves breathtaking levels of color and clarity. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: As empty and beautiful as the picturesque Minnesota terrain it's so clearly taken with. Read more