73
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 90Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranThe creators of the magnificent Balseros stayed involved with its subject, a group of Cuban boat people who made it to the United States, for a full seven years. If you put in that kind of time, you witness life happening in front of you in all its compelling, confounding drama. What could be better than that?
- 80TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxBrilliantly edited from well over 100 hours of tape, the final two-hour film recalls Michael Apted's 7 UP series.
- 80Village VoiceJ. HobermanVillage VoiceJ. HobermanBecalmed or bobbing along, they remain balseros -- but then, as this engrossing documentary suggests, so are we all.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoWell-done documentary.
- 70VarietyEddie CockrellVarietyEddie CockrellNoteworthy for its detail and evenhandedness.
- 60Film ThreatFilm ThreatAn ambitious, smartly edited documentary epic by a pair of journalists who tenaciously followed their subjects over the course of seven years, the film is both intimate and sweeping.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterAchieves a rare depth and intimacy in its portrait of dreams fulfilled and shattered.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayBalseros doesn't fully measure up to Michael Apted's work because of the dingy quality of its video-to-film transfer, as well as flaws inherent to a project that started as one type of documentary and ended up as another--namely, that the filmmakers didn't ask enough of the right questions in the first two installments to make the third fully connect.
- 50L.A. WeeklyErnest HardyL.A. WeeklyErnest HardyWhat's fresh for these people is, frankly, old news for anyone who has seen even one or two documentaries on similar subject matter.