After a deceptively funny and offbeat beginning, the movie keeps restarting; each new start shows some promise, and Singleton's talent never really deserts him-but the parts don't come together to create a unified story.

| Apr 26, 2019

"Poetic Justice" is a disappointment.

| Apr 26, 2019

Some good performances are balanced out by the film's contrivances and gratuitously foul-mouthed characters.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 26, 2019

"Poetic Justice" is thoroughly watchable. The director's script has bite, he is fluid with his camerawork and his eye and ear for details, particularly the details of female life, are superb.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 26, 2019

Singleton splatters his ambition all over the screen; he mixes up violence, romance, comedy, rage, and - yes - poetry. Yet he barely demonstrates the discipline to shape a scene.

| Original Score: C- | Sep 7, 2011

"Poetic Justice" has a lot to commend, but discipline is not high on the list.

| Jul 22, 2008

An honorable failure, a flawed attempt to take black film out of the macho gangsta ghetto.

| Feb 9, 2006

It has the air of something awkwardly fabricated to reach an inspirational goal.

| May 20, 2003

For all the wrong turns and right-minded preachiness that mar John Singleton's follow-up to Boyz n the Hood, you can still sense the fire of a writer and director who thinks art can help change the world.

| May 12, 2001

Singleton passes the director's acid test: the difficult second movie. This proves he's no flash N the pan.

| Jan 1, 2000

It's more a brave movie than it is a good one, but at least Singleton has faced the unknown. And he deserves credit for the attempt.

| Jan 1, 2000

While the film never fully explores Justice's relationship to her poetry -- the work is Angelou's -- the device is effective: its eloquence about emotion and selfhood enhances Singleton's images.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2000

Yes, things are hard. But they aren't impossible. Sometimes they're wonderful. And sometimes you can find someone to share them with.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 1, 2000