What Critics Are Saying About 'Crown Heights'

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — "Crown Heights," a feature film from Amazon Studios that tells the story of a wrongful conviction of a man from its namesake neighborhood, has been out in theaters or a few weeks now, giving critics and movie-goers plenty of time to see it and form their opinions.

The movie has scored an impressive 75 percent from the notoriously hard-to-please Rotten Tomatoes audience and a 6.4 out of 10 on IMDB.

Patch pulled from some individual reviews for a closer look at what critics are saying from the film. We've pulled an excerpt from them (with no spoilers) below.

A.O. Scott, The New York Times:

This story inspired a gripping, enraging episode of “This American Life,” and “Crown Heights,” written and directed by Matt Ruskin, tries to adhere both to the factual record and a careful, detail-focused documentary ethos. Like its protagonist, sensitively and shrewdly played by Lakeith Stanfield, the film is soft-spoken and thoughtful, with sweet, lyrical touches that alleviate some of the grimness without blunting the cruelty and injustice of what happened.

Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post:

As compelling as Warner’s story is, “Crown Heights” never quite takes hold cinematically. It’s a procedural whose central protagonist remains necessarily passive and something of a cipher, despite the wellsprings of emotion that Stanfield manages to tap simply by gazing balefully out a cell window. At one point, he disappears from the narrative entirely, as KC (Nnamdi Asomugha) and a pretty neighborhood friend named Antoinette (Natalie Paul) embark on their own investigation of the case, eventually at the risk of KC’s own warm and burgeoning family life. (A number of passages center on un-cinematic scenes of people opening letters, reading legal documents or talking on the phone.)

Andrew Barker, Variety:

“Crown Heights” doesn’t break much new ground, and it takes a while to find its footing, but thanks to strong, unshowy performances from Lakeith Stanfield and Nnamdi Asomugha, the film does project the feelings of helplessness and frustration that come from fighting against such an immovable object. Adapted from a “This American Life” episode that detailed the case of Colin Warner (Stanfield), who spent 20 years behind bars for murder before being freed in 2001, the movie offers an interesting companion piece to Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th,” and ought to receive a look from festivals going forward.

John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter:

As Colin Warner, an immigrant Brooklynite who spent two decades in jail for a murder he had no connection to, Stanfield's job is largely to embody endurance onscreen, waiting out the innumerable setbacks facing his attempts to clear his name. Righteous but drier than some similar features, the film will rely largely on its timeliness to attract audiences, hoping that ongoing attention to the incarceration of black men will help it reach art houses.

Also See: 'Crown Heights' Stars Touched By Response To Film

Image via Amazon Studios