I Am Not Your Negro (2017)

The critic hails the documentary as masterful in addressing the American racial divide past and present. It singles out Samuel L. Jackson's narration as his finest performance, deepening the emotional frustration with its resigned delivery.

The review calls the film a brilliant essay that imagines Baldwin's unfinished book and weaves his words with images to examine race in America. It highlights the film's kaleidoscopic style and contemporary resonance as one of the year's most important works.

The film is a mesmerizing cinematic experience that uses every element of film language to create a powerful, painful essay on America’s racial crisis that remains urgently relevant. Turan singles out the opening montage linking Baldwin’s era to contemporary events like Ferguson as revealing the film’s essence.

The critic praises Raoul Peck's fluid documentary for using James Baldwin's timeless anger to animate a history of the black experience in America. It singles out the montage that deconstructs Hollywood stereotypes, racial forgiveness tropes and the function of the N-word.

The critic praises the documentary for using Baldwin's eloquent words to compelling effect, creating a world-weary tone that underscores ongoing racial issues. It notes the film's strengths in narration and relevance to current events while acknowledging some challenging visuals.

The film is a thrilling posthumous collaboration between Peck and Baldwin that functions as both an introduction to the writer’s work and an advanced seminar in racial politics. It draws entirely on Baldwin’s words (voiced by Samuel L. Jackson) to connect the assassinations of Evers, Malcolm X and King to contemporary American life.

The critic describes Raoul Peck’s lyrical documentary as one that should have won its Oscar nomination, praising how it joins the dots in US racism and civil rights history through Baldwin’s own wise and witty words read by Samuel L. Jackson. It highlights the film’s use of archive clips and its timely feel.

Peck’s transcendent documentary is a hypnotic collage that lets viewers live inside Baldwin’s mind through his words and a kaleidoscope of archival and film clips. Gleiberman praises the way it conveys Baldwin’s rejection of liberal platitudes and his vision of racism as a crisis of the American spirit.

The critic praises the film as an unflinching and vital documentary that powerfully connects Baldwin’s words on race to contemporary events. Peck’s use of archive material, modern footage and Jackson’s narration is singled out for holding the film together despite its unrelenting anger.

The critic calls the film an outstanding, vivid and vital documentary that dramatises Baldwin’s unfinished memoir through Samuel L. Jackson’s narration and a punchy montage of historical footage. It singles out Baldwin’s eloquent analysis of race and culture for praise while noting a minor flourish that approximates his anger but lacks elegance.

Peck’s incisive documentary derives its voice-over entirely from Baldwin’s writings and pairs them with archival footage to trace the gap between legal desegregation and ongoing white supremacy. The film highlights Baldwin’s prophetic analysis of American consciousness and its painful relevance to present-day events.

The review finds the film timeless, with Baldwin's polemical yet unifying words on race feeling freshly resonant. It singles out the effective use of archival footage and the film's loose structure that connects past and present injustices.

The critic calls Peck's film essay magnificent and an exhilarating, impressionistic treatment of James Baldwin. It singles out the film's laser-like precision in reclaiming Baldwin's words and spotlight while seeing beyond its selected historical moment.

The critic sees the film as a searing examination of America's racist history through Baldwin's notes and words, rejecting any concessions to Western democracy's flaws. It praises the montage linking past and present while noting Baldwin's personal insights into cultural propaganda.

The critic describes the film as a searing indictment of racial prejudice in America, using Baldwin's words to link three assassinated leaders to ongoing social issues. It notes the film's dynamic visuals and timely relevance but finds the loose structure occasionally confusing.

The critic finds the documentary pained and painful as it gives new voice to James Baldwin on race. Peck balances Baldwin’s impassioned words with archival footage and images to indict cinema and American racism, evoking spiritual weariness without easy resolution or nostalgia.

The critic finds the film despairing and angry in equal measure, forcefully arguing that America has not evolved in race relations. It singles out the deft pairing of historical police brutality footage with recent protests to illustrate Baldwin's still-valid fears.

The film is an accomplished and moving documentary that powerfully conveys James Baldwin's words on race in America, using narration and footage to highlight ongoing inequality and relevance to current events. The critic praises Baldwin's eloquent writing as the core strength while noting Peck's effective use of modern clips to underscore how little has changed.

Peck superbly reconstructs the nuance and passion of James Baldwin's work in this essay-like documentary. The film is praised for its precise editing, Samuel L. Jackson's narration, and its timeless relevance to race relations.

Peck's documentary illuminates Baldwin's words through a rich tapestry of archival footage, film clips, and images that jolt awareness of America's racial history and its present. The critic highlights the film's exposure of simplistic national narratives and Baldwin's profound insights on identity, history, and moral apathy.

Peck creates an intimate experience with Baldwin by focusing on his unfinished book and resisting standard documentary formats. The film is celebrated for centering Baldwin's words and critiquing Hollywood's racial myths while connecting to contemporary issues.

Peck's documentary brilliantly channels Baldwin's righteous antagonism through montage and archival footage. It restores a sense of resistance and urgency to Baldwin's ideas, making them feel alive and essential.

The critic urges viewers to see this extraordinary documentary, calling it a great work of cinema that addresses America's past, present, and future on race in a vital way every citizen should experience. Peck's film is praised for delivering Baldwin's angry, horrific, yet poetic words in a captivating and gorgeous manner, with Samuel L. Jackson's narration singled out as one of the actor's greatest performances.