Sisters in Law (2005)

Critic Reviews

• Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

  Grim but inspirational.

• Erin Meister, Boston Globe

  Despite the lack of an especially defined narrative arc, the people are what make the movie -- as they should in a tale like this.

• G. Allen Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle

  This is a serious film, but it is also entertaining.

• Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

  Perhaps we need a sequel, which would likely be as riveting as this inspirational introduction to two courageous pioneers.

• Kyle Smith, New York Post

  The women are meant to make us think of Judge Judy but her daytime TV show is far better assembled than this movie, in which there is neither complexity nor mystery to the depressing cases we witness.

• Nathan Lee, New York Times

  Grassroots feminism thrives in a Cameroon village thanks to the pair of warm-hearted, tough-minded women of law profiled in this excellent verité documentary.

• Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix

  [A] skilled, moving, and funny look at two woman judges pushing a progressive agenda in a Cameroon courthouse.

• Maria Garcia, Film Journal International

  Possesses a disarming veracity which is not easily dismissed.

• Neil Smith, BBC

  Where it triumphs, though, is in sending a message of hope from a continent too often associated with tragedy and despair.

• Geoffrey Macnab, Guardian [UK]

  Some cases are harrowing, but the film is never grim. The formidable Ngassa shows such resilience, kindness and common sense that the effect is oddly uplifting.

• David Parkinson, Empire Magazine

  A compelling study of a small-town lawyer's determination to challenge Cameroon's institutionalised chauvinism, which judiciously combines small triumphs with a daunting sense of the task that lies ahead.

• Jules Brenner, Cinema Signals

  The human compassion shown by these judges, advocates and arbitrators, mixed with humor in the face of sin and brutality, is an impressive achievement for an ethnic oligarchy.

• John Patterson, L.A. Weekly

  Inspirational stuff, and often hysterical to boot.

• Edward Lawrenson, Time Out

  A stirring movie about the ameliorative power of justice and mercy in a fascinating part of the world.

• Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)

  a larger reaffirmation of the powerful ideal of a lawful society, one where every citizen retains basic rights that should never be taken away.

• Jeff Shannon, Seattle Times

  The courtroom scenes have a lively immediacy matched by the fiery efficiency of Ngassa and Ntuba.

• Bill White, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

  Documentary on the struggle to bring justice to a Cameroon village.

• Noel Murray, AV Club

  Ayisi and Longinotto frame their shots in such a way that they catch the disorganization in the foreground and the gleaming computers and televisions in the background. When

• Ken Fox, TV Guide's Movie Guide

  More gripping than anything on Court TV and unexpectedly uplifting.

• Donald J. Levit, ReelTalk Movie Reviews

  Not stooping to cheap sensationalism, 'Sisters in Law' dignifies an Africa -- particularly its women -- elsewhere often shown as hopeless.

Read all 21 critic reviews