Critic Reviews

• Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times

  rags-to-riches tale cut from the same cloth as City of God, Goodfellas and Scarface.

• Trevor Johnston, Time Out

  Writer-director Ralph Ziman strings it all together with slick competence, but given that leading man Rapulana Seiphemo does a persuasive line in moral ambiguity, it's disappointing that the proceedings too often default to glib shoot-'em-up.

• Mike Hale, New York Times

  It's easy to overlook the formulas and just enjoy the ride.

• V.A. Musetto, New York Post

  The opening credits of Gangster's Paradise note that it was "inspired by real events." It would be more accurate to say that the film was inspired by Brian De Palma's Scarface and similar fare.

• Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal

  Startlingly original, if occasionally overambitious. This is Tsotsi without the feel-good glow, a tale of entrepreneurship's perils and boundless pleasures.

• Nick Schager, Village Voice

  Though South Africa's racial strife is frequently invoked, sociopolitical inquiry takes a backseat to creaky gangster-cinema tropes.

• Sophie Ivan, Film4

  It's hard not to feel such complex, dramatically rich subject matter merits a less prosaic treatment.

• Lee Griffiths, Little White Lies

  Despite the familiar ground, Ralph Ziman manages to orchestrate an engrossing and energetic film full of memorable characters and a wicked soundtrack.

• Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

  Bold, energetic and extremely complicated, this epic thriller is an eye-opening exploration of ... Johannesburg

• Allan Hunter, Daily Express

  Issues of race and social injustice add a little grit and texture to an otherwise overlong and over familiar gangster story.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  Sadly things unwind and the movie loses power with covert special pleading for the wiseguy protagonist, who is supposed to be morally superior to obviously vindictive white cops or evil drug dealer rivals.

• James O'Brien, Daily Mail [UK]

  Ultimately, like all the best gangster films, it is a story of people, not principles. Actions, not ideas. And it is very nearly a masterpiece.

• Robbie Collin, News of the World

  The film pays its dues to the classics. Not only does it lovingly rip off a truck heist from Heat, but Lucky and his gang actually sit down and watch Heat for tips.

• Michelle Orange, Movieline

  Lucky's journey fails to inspire either empathy or a more scrutinizing ethical engagement; he acts simply as a character in a cut-rate gangster mash-up might, and around the time of that first, zany carjacking it ceases to matter where he'll end up.

• Antonia Quirke, Financial Times

  A cheerfully violent South African ramble about a gangster unwilling to "sit on his arse waiting for Mandela". Initially intriguing, it collapses in an hour.

• Josh Winning, Total Film

  Jerusalema remains an elegant third venture from director Ralph Ziman.

• Alex Critchley, Sky Movies

  It's a rich portrait made all the more worrying by apparently being based on actual events.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  A potent, energised slice of South African life.

• Pete Hammond, Back Stage

  A riveting look at a side of South Africa that seems to have been swept under the rug.

Read all 19 critic reviews