MOVIE REVIEWS: 'Winnie Mandela' Falls Short of Namesake

Winnie Mandela" is rated R and runs 1 hour and 47 minutes.

Here's what the critics are saying:

Unlike the woman who often polarized her fellow South Africans, the film feels static. — Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News.

So good in "Dreamgirls," Hudson works hard to convey the gravitas of the role, but she struggles in a part that might have been better suited for a more experienced actress. — Claudia Puig, USA Today

Like many a biopic before it, "Winnie Mandela" shoehorns an exceptional life into the standard template of a highlights reel, lurching from one Important Moment to the next. — Sherri Linden, Los Angeles Times

It’s slight and episodic, with a weirdly scrupulous ambivalence about its subject, whom it seems torn between loving and loathing. — Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post