American VioletMovie Reviews

Poster art for "American Violet."

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Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 83
    Entertainment Weekly | Lisa Schwarzbaum

    An artlessly powerful performance by newcomer Nicole Behaire anchors American Violet. Read full review

  • 75
    San Francisco Chronicle | Jonathan Curiel

    An ideal movie for an ideal time in America. Read full review

  • 75
    Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

    American Violet, it's true, is not blazingly original cinema. Tim Disney's direction and the screenplay by Bill Haney are meat and potatoes, making this story clear, direct and righteous. Read full review

  • 70
    Washington Post | Michael O'Sullivan

    What sticks in my craw -- just a bit -- is the way the film doesn't fully trust the true story's inherent power. Read full review

  • 70
    Variety | Todd McCarthy

    Dee is an engaging, admirable lead character, and the striking, petite Beharie, in only her second screen role, is a real winner, bringing energy and fortitude to a woman who easily could have joined the ranks of society's victims and losers. Read full review

  • 60
    Los Angeles Times |

    The narrative is infused with chilling facts, and the filmmakers know how to build their case, but a drama demands more. We should have been immersed in Dee's wrenching journey, not just sitting it out on the sidelines. Read full review

  • 50
    Boston Globe | Wesley Morris

    American Violet feels less like life and unreasonably more like the movies. Read full review

  • 50
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Earnest, mostly predictable and candidly didactic. That said, I'm glad it got made -- what's wrong with films that teach? -- and especially glad that a remarkably gifted newcomer named Nicole Beharie got to play the central role. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | Stephen Holden

    The movie's staunchly liberal point of view extends to the 2000 presidential election, which is shown unfolding in the background. Al Gore's concession speech is used to suggest that the systemic racism in Melody is a symptom of a broader climate of injustice. Read full review

  • 40
    The Hollywood Reporter |

    Wears its righteous indignation and good intentions on its sleeve but its simplistic, heavy handed treatment of a complex issue gives it the weight of a contrived movie of the week melodrama. Read full review

American Violet Movie Ratings + Reviews

Fans say

Must Go! 273 fan reviews

Critics say

So-so See all critic reviews

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