88
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Village VoiceAlan ScherstuhlVillage VoiceAlan ScherstuhlStephen Maing’s searing documentary Crime + Punishment offers a fuller look at the question of what can be accomplished from inside, revealing both the personal toll fighting the system can exact but also the urgent necessity of such battles.
- 100The New York TimesA.O. ScottThe New York TimesA.O. ScottCrime+Punishment advances a thorough critique of American law enforcement not by generalizing or speechifying, but by digging into particular lives and circumstances, allowing affected individuals to speak for themselves.
- 90The Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichThe Hollywood ReporterKeith UhlichStephen Maing's documentary about the NYPD's illegal policing quotas and other discriminatory practices gets the blood boiling.
- 90TheWrapTricia OlszewskiTheWrapTricia OlszewskiCrime + Punishment is essential viewing for anyone with a suspicion that there’s corruption in law enforcement.
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranCrime + Punishment is a quiet documentary but a potent one. Though its approach is low key, its passion, drama and concern for exposing wrongdoing is unmistakable.
- 88RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonRogerEbert.comOdie HendersonConsidering this particular environment is being replicated by other law enforcement departments, Maing’s film becomes crucial to the discussion on quotas and the toll they take on the populace and the police.
- 83The PlaylistAndrew CrumpThe PlaylistAndrew CrumpCrime + Punishment isn’t without hope, but it anchors that hope to the unflattering realities of American policing.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinCrime + Punishment makes you angry and scared in equal measure. What it doesn’t do is illuminate the sources of this evil. What about the majority of cops who know the 12 are right but shun them anyway? Would you trust them if they stopped you on the street?
- 75Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanFor the most part, the film balances its outrage with objectivity.
- 65Film Journal InternationalAndré HerefordFilm Journal InternationalAndré HerefordThe whistleblowers of the NYPD 12 definitely deserve a comprehensive chronicle of their struggle for justice, as their struggle affects so many. Crime + Punishment speaks well on their behalf, but not emphatically enough to close the case.