Lee's politics, left-liberalism and quasi-black nationalism, and his scattershot artistic approach leave him unprepared for the immensity of the task. He seems overwhelmed.

| Feb 14, 2021

Think of the film as a companion in mourning.

| May 9, 2020

Raw and painful-it got across the pure horror of the aftermath of the storm...

| Nov 5, 2018

...the evidence of governmental indifference and incompetence quietly piles up until it becomes cumulatively enraging.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Aug 3, 2018

... masterful crosscutting mix of past and present, of authority and anguish, of ass-covering officialdom and angry dispossession, of sick-city misery and soul-stirring music...

| Jan 17, 2018

Spike Lee's political statement is one of humanism, and the result is his most potent work in years.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | May 21, 2015

Spike Lee's masterful and disturbing Katrina docu.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Dec 18, 2010

There's no way to truly distill this triumph into a handful of words. The ghosts of so many color the corners of a mournful poem and a powerful prayer that's pissed off, hopeful, practical, empathetic and one of the most important documentaries ever made.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Dec 2, 2010

| Original Score: 5/5 | Oct 20, 2007

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 20, 2007

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 20, 2007

Arguably Lee's best effort since Do the Right Thing.

| Jul 20, 2007

...provides an extraordinarily detailed look at this event, and its worth is sure to be felt increasingly as the memories fade and the anger softens with time and distance.

| Original Score: B+ | Jun 21, 2007

Despite capturing many heartbreaking aspects of the disaster, this is essentially an overambitious mess which ultimately fails to convey effectively the scale or scope of the ongoing tragedy.

| Original Score: 1/4 | May 11, 2007

It's the depth and weight of Freeman Jr's or Michael Wright's or Phyllis Leblanc's words, the anger and sadness behind them, that surge forth here, sinking the political elite's murderously empty promises.

Full Review | Mar 9, 2007

In this golden era of documentary filmmaking, When the Levess Broke is among the very best films of the past year, fiction and non-fiction alike.

| Original Score: 90/100 | Dec 22, 2006

The same didactic instincts that sometimes mar Lee's fictional filmmaking serve him well as a documentarian and eulogist.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Sep 23, 2006

...what should have been a searing, powerful documentary generally comes off as a rough cut that's desperately in need of some judicious editing.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Sep 8, 2006

It's an honest, fair and unflinching look at one of the greatest, and saddest, natural disasters to hit our shores.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5 | Sep 5, 2006

Surely the most magnificent and large-souled record of a great American tragedy ever put on film.

Full Review | Aug 28, 2006