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11/20/08
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Battle in Seattle (2008)
53 %
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Reviews Counted: 53
Fresh: 28
Rotten:25
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Consensus: Well intentioned and passionate, this docu-drama about the 1999 WTO protests draws stronger political assertions than it does strong characters.
Theatrical Release: Sep 19, 2008 Limited
Box Office: $120,313
Synopsis: Actor Stuart Townsend (HEAD IN THE CLOUDS) makes an accomplished writing and directing debut with BATTLE IN SEATTLE, a fictionalized account of the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings and protests in Seattle. After a... [More]
Starring: Martin Henderson, Michelle Rodriguez, Woody Harrelson, Charlize Theron
Director: Stuart Townsend
Reviews for Battle in Seattle
It sheds much needed light on a mostly forgotten event in our country's history.
11/06/08
What I think the movie failed to do was the thing it had to do most, which was explain what is the WTO and why in Stuart Townshend’s opinion, is it bad.
11/06/08
Townsend's efforts to be honest to the spirit of the event carry the film through its sloganeering and familiar backstage dramas.
10/18/08
If current events hold, Battle in Seattle could look like prophecy as well as history.
10/17/08
There is a monster in Battle in Seattle, but it never speaks and remains mysterious.
10/17/08
Actor-turned writer-director Stuart Townsend makes great use of the documentary footage of the '99 Seattle WTO riots. And he gets across his talking points about this shadowy outfit, too. It's a shame his script and all his actor friends get in the way.
10/16/08
Very ambitious, the story constantly jumps back and forth, trying to give both sides of the story. I'll say it's mostly successful.
10/08/08
Braiding brief snippets of these automatically suspenseful storylines with archival video footage of the actual event, Townsend makes a good point that the thing just got away from all involved.
10/02/08
Most inspiring in its throwaway moments, the flick mistakenly thinks we give a damn about an irritating romance when it would be better served by facts, outrage, and complexity.
09/30/08
It's the next best thing to being there, in that it's likely to make shuddering viewers intensely glad that they weren't.
09/26/08
It's easy to see why Townsend was attracted to this inherently dramatic situation, but the characters he's put on screen feel less like real people than like entities created to either make plot points or stand in for specific positions.
09/26/08
Top Critic The film’s default position is to always fall back on anti-capitalist rhetoric whenever dialogue and drama grow too banal.
09/26/08
One strength is Barry Ackroyd's handheld-camera work, which deftly tracks the action but still captures the disorientation of those engulfed by the mayhem.
09/26/08
The chief culprits are Townsend's TV-movie characterizations and a very muddled message.
09/26/08
Sorely missing is a feeling of immediacy or urgency, undercut by bad dialogue and eye-rolling coincidence.
09/25/08
The result is not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same.
09/25/08
Top Critic Cinema verite' filmed in an unabashedly one-sided, pro-demonstrator mode, this film fails to make the grade as either hard hitting documentary or staged narrative fiction
09/24/08
It sounds like a bad TV movie, yet Stuart Townsend, the veteran actor-turned-director re-creates it all with stunning passion and skill in Battle in Seattle.
09/24/08
Latest News for Battle in Seattle
September 18, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Lakeview Terrace Isn't Sturdy; Igor Lacks Brains
This week at the movies, we've got an angry cop (Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson); a disgruntled hunchback (the CGI Igor with voice work by John Cusack and Molly... More...
September 16, 2008:
Exclusive Clips: Charlize Theron in Battle in Seattle
Watch Charlize Theron in two exclusive clips from Battle in Seattle, a fictional retelling of the five tumultuous days in 1999 when thousands of protesters stormed the streets... More...
August 10, 2008:
Trailer & Poster review 
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September 17, 2007:
Toronto Film Fest: Joy Division, Battle in Seattle Purchased
ThinkFilm, who ponied up big money ($2 million) for Helen Hunt's Then She Found Me early on in the Toronto bidding wars, has closed the festival with the purchase of another... More...
Related Forums for Battle in Seattle
(2008/Rated R)-BATTLE IN SEATTLE gets ready to rumble on September 19th!!!
by: ReelReviewer.com 10/1
by: ReelReviewer.com 10/1
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