Critic Reviews

• Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine

  In the rich umbers of Haskell Wexler's cinematography, Matewan does look great.

• Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

  If Sayles's bite were as lethal as his bark, he might have given this a harder edge and a stronger conclusion. But the performances are uniformly fine.

• Jay Carr, Boston Globe

  In its grave clarity, it's as pure and plaintive as a mountain ballad.

• Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune

  Sayles must have meant his movie to stir and provoke, but the self-contained look of it yields something else -- a sense of quaintness, of harmless nostalgia.

• Michael Wilmington, Los Angeles Times

  When this movie stumbles, it stumbles honestly and sympathetically, but, when it succeeds, it makes history sing.

• Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel

  The movie works the way Westerns have always worked: In clear, simple terms and with straightforward dramatic devices.

• , Film4

  The film is beautifully shot (by veteran cinematographer Haskell Wexler) and works not just as a tense drama, but also as a fascinating recreation of the shifting politics of the the 1920s, where workers' rights blurred with socialism.

• Candice Russell, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

  This thoughtful film is real in every respect, right down to the plaintive sound of a country woman`s ballad.

• Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

  John Sayles' period piece is an ambitious drama of union making and union breaking in the 1920a

• Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

  Cinematographer Haskel Wexler contributes greatly to the look and feel of a truly special cinematic achievement.

• Leo Goldsmith, Not Coming to a Theater Near You

  For all of the binary simplicity of the film's moral structure, the question of violence, its utility or even necessity, is the great ambiguity at the film's center.

• Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

  An old-fashioned movie that will make the hearts of all idealists truly sing.

• Lori Hoffman, Atlantic City Weekly

  Superb drama by John Sayles; Chris Cooper is brilliant.

• , TV Guide's Movie Guide

  With Oscar winner Haskell Wexler acting as cinematographer, Matewan is beautifully shot, and there is not a weak performance in the film.

• Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World

  Fascinating masterpiece from Sayles

• Bob Westal, Film Threat

  The wry social commentary of [Sayles'] earlier films is gone; we're in mythmaking country here.

• Walter Chaw, Film Freak Central

  marks a turning point in the auteur's career, a transition between a teller of personal tales and a conveyor of universal ones.

Read all 17 critic reviews