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The Public

2018

Emilio Estévez

Emilio Estévez, Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling, Jeffrey Wright ...

6.0

336

Drama A sit-in by patrons at a public library escalates into a police standoff and a media sideshow. An unusually bitter Arctic blast has made its way to downtown Cincinnati. At odds with library officials over how to handle the extreme weather event, the patrons turn the building into a homeless shelter for the night by staging an "Occupy" sit in. What begins as an act of civil disobedience becomes a stand off with police and a ... [+]

	Media	Author	Review
		Ben Kenigsberg The New York Times	"Estevez does an elegant job with this setup (...) The movie’s literary virtues, in other words, are up for debate. Its sincerity, though, is not."
		Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"At worst, you can dismiss [Estévez] as a naïve do-gooder. At best, you can commend him for actually believing a movie might raise public consciousness and maybe even change things. Your call (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"
		Gary Goldstein Los Angeles Times	"[It] proves an often implausible, stacked deck of social issues, contrived conflicts and feel-good activism."
		Dennis Harvey Variety	"At times seems too cute and simplistic for the harsh realities it touches on (...) Nonetheless, it largely works."
		Michael O'Sullivan The Washington Post	"[Estevez] has stuffed 'The Public' with too many issues for a single movie (...) Intellectual arrogance is not the problem with the film. Rather, it’s the tone of moral superiority (…) Rating: ★½ (out of 4)"
		Deborah Young The Hollywood Reporter	"There is little nuance here in the storytelling or acting. The dialogue often has a stilted, unnatural ring to it (...) But the editing keeps things moving swiftly and seamlessly"
		Tricia Olszewski The Wrap	"The film is a clunky and at times ridiculous affair, taking a situation that might reasonably happen and turning it into something melodramatic and ultimately unbelievable."
		Chris Barsanti The Playlist	"Estevez assembles a great cast for a clumsy, but gutsy, film (...) Even though 'The Public' ultimately doesn’t come together as a dramatic piece (...) it does take some impressive chances"
		Paul Byrnes Sydney Morning Herald	"A likeable piece of Capra-corn (...) The characters have white hats and black hats, the story carries its heart on its sleeve, and it comes home with a rousing crowd-pleasing and surprising finale."
		John Noonan FilmInk	"A passionate plea for compassion in 2019 and a hope to find a middle ground where everyone, particularly the impoverished, benefits.
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"It is a film with its heart in the right place, but the dialogue and characterisation are both plonkingly unconvincing (…) Rating: ★★ (out of 5)"

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