This fascinating documentary examines the issues raised by Nader's runs for the presidency...that shone a powerful light into our grubby political shadows, and also played a part...that twice put George W. Bush into the White House.

| May 2, 2007

It can't help but remind us that the man Nader prevented from becoming president has since been more instrumental in the war on environmental pollution than any other public figure. Irony abounds.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 20, 2007

You may walk away from it still wondering why Nader persisted in running for president in 2004 after being repeatedly begged not to. But, whether or not you admire the decision, the film forces you to admire the determination with which Nader made it.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 7, 2007

This documentary starts out as a fascinating profile of consumer advocate Ralph Nader, but it ends up getting derailed by a political discussion marked by an abundance of whining.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 29, 2007

The first half of the movie is an absorbing study of this part of Nader's public life, and then it switches -- as he did -- to politics, where the results for both him and the picture are less cheerful.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Mar 16, 2007

An Unreasonable Man pays true homage to a man of vehemently held ideas by forcing us to engage our brains at the same high level of consciousness.

| Mar 16, 2007

For most of an entertaining 122 minutes, the film simply tells the story of Nader's life and chronicles his struggles and crusades.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 9, 2007

Every time a belt gets buckled or an airbag inflates, the movie argues, somebody somewhere has Nader to thank for it.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Mar 2, 2007

Though filled with talking heads and clocking in at two full hours, it's thoroughly involving, and its two-part structure explicitly balances Nader's phenomenal career as an anticorporate gadfly in the 60s and 70s with his role in the election of [Bush].

| Original Score: 3/4 | Mar 2, 2007

The movie is lively and informative, but (in ways the old Nader might have appreciated) it made me feel like arguing with it. Frustratingly, the film avoids as many issues as it raises.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Mar 2, 2007

Surely, Ralph Nader deserves better press than he's been getting ever since the 2004 elections -- and the legendary consumer advocate and so-called presidential spoiler receives his due, from both sides, in the documentary An Unreasonable Man.

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

Eschewing narration or direct questioning, the directors instead employ a vast archive of consistently engaging clips from Nader's many congressional battles.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 25, 2007

Nader haters may not be mollified, but An Unreasonable Man, like its subject itself, is a one-stop civics lesson no one should miss.

| Feb 22, 2007

Structured chronologically and somewhat dryly, An Unreasonable Man makes a strong, nonhagiographic case for Nader's impact: maturing under the influence of a verbal immigrant father.

| Original Score: 4/6 | Feb 10, 2007

The film contends admiringly, and convincingly, that Ralph Nader's authentic sense of outrage is the reason he persists when he can't prevail.

| Feb 9, 2007

What An Unreasonable Man does best is rehabilitate Nader's career prior to the election and remind us of an unparalleled public-interest legacy stretching over four decades.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 9, 2007

The compelling documentary An Unreasonable Man carries the tag line, 'Ralph Nader: How do you define a legacy?' but it might just as easily have asked, 'Who gets to define the legacy?'

| Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 8, 2007

An entertaining tour of this endearing, infuriating absolutist's life and legacy.

Full Review | Feb 8, 2007

A perceptive and beautifully made documentary portrait of Nader.

| Original Score: A | Feb 7, 2007

A spellbinding cautionary tale about the dangers of purity and the ugly necessity of compromise and pragmatism.

| Original Score: A- | Feb 2, 2007