Nelson's thought-provoking documentary investigation into the life and times of preacher Jim Jones raises a fistful of public policy questions that are still knocking around today.

| May 5, 2010

Frightening, grueling, and needed in an age where religious fanaticism of all kind reigns...

| Jul 11, 2007

Jonestown is a somber and non-exploitive reconstruction of the events that led the members of the Peoples Temple.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 1, 2007

Stanley Nelson revisits the 1978 mass suicide of Jim Jones and his flock in Guyana, savoring the horror but offering no new insights.

| Apr 1, 2007

The combination of these materials and the new interviews reconstruct a story few really know.

| Mar 1, 2007

As much as it leaves open individual questions of devotion and need, the film does make clear the dangers of seeking solace and identity in the embrace of such a complex ego.

Full Review | Feb 24, 2007

Ultimately, the film doesn't entirely answer the massive 'why' at the center of this story -- that answer died on that day in 1978 -- but it's a haunting exploration of an event of unspeakable sadness, which still resonates decades later.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Feb 2, 2007

It is a frightening epitaph for what is surely one of the 20th century's most heartbreaking cautionary tales against giving one up to the will of another.

| Original Score: B | Feb 1, 2007

A somber, solid documentary [parading] the whole bleak tale before us again, complete with those disturbing scenes of hundreds of corpses in their tees and shorts and flip-flops strewn about facedown in the mud of Jonestown, Guyana.

| Feb 1, 2007

The last half hour of Jonestown is almost unwatchable. Video footage of the assault on the congressman's delegation gives way to audio of Jones exhorting people to 'die with a degree of dignity' as children shriek in the background.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 12, 2007

The documentary, directed by Stanley Nelson, incorporates rare footage and recordings with a history of Jones and the Peoples Temple. The film's planned airing on PBS will expose many more viewers to this important slice of history.

| Original Score: B+ | Jan 11, 2007

Relying on previously unseen film footage, still photos and voice recordings, Jonestown paints a portrait of a fantastically charismatic preacher.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 22, 2006

Jonestown is not an easy movie to watch. But it's a solid presentation of an important chapter in American and religious history. Haunting is the only word that truly fits.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 8, 2006

Nelson gives plenty of time to the intelligent, articulate members who provide riveting details about those days nearly 30 years ago and their reflections now, but he doesn't provide historical context for the events.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 24, 2006

Jonestown is a thoroughly conventional documentary...But this familiar format also emphasizes the movie's universality.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 24, 2006

More than a record of one horrific moment in history or the cautionary tale of the road to hell being paved with good intentions.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Nov 15, 2006

From idealistic beginnings to the horror-movie ending, a singular episode of history is peeled open to expose a raw and ugly core.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Nov 10, 2006

One of the year's most important documentaries, a real must-see.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 3, 2006

Nelson's film helps us understand that Jonestown may be history, but the tremendous loss still resonates.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Nov 3, 2006

While Jonestown lacks the power of revelation, it's a first-rate piece of journalism, as fascinating and thorough as any magazine article.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Nov 3, 2006