80
Metascore
19 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Slant MagazineChuck BowenSlant MagazineChuck BowenAs always with Frederick Wiseman, it’s the quotidian gestures that haunt one in Monrovia, Indiana.
- 90Screen DailyLee MarshallScreen DailyLee MarshallIn its austere way, this is classic Wiseman, a film that takes us into the heart of a community and reveals its inner workings, comforts, fractures and traumas. It’s also a fine example of the way the director sculpts and moulds his material to create an arc that is both dramatic and poetic.
- 83The Film StageRory O'ConnorThe Film StageRory O'ConnorWiseman is well known for his objectivity but another of his most enduring traits has been a dedication to showing audiences the hard, under-appreciated work that is constantly being done by small social organizations and local councils.
- 83Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyEntertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyFew filmmakers can turn a mundane town council meeting about a library bench into a meditation on patriotism and civic responsibility the way Wiseman can. Let’s hope his camera continues to roll for years to come.
- 80Rolling StonePeter TraversRolling StonePeter TraversAt two-and-a-half hours, Monrovia, Indiana often feels static and low-key to a fault. As always, Wiseman is working hard at being fair, refusing to condemn or even condescend to what his camera sees.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungThe film has its resonant moments, notably a wedding and a funeral. But it is by no means the jewel in the crown of a series that most recently has included electrifying docs like At Berkeley, In Jackson Heights and Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.
- 58The A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloThe A.V. ClubMike D'AngeloMuch of what Wiseman captures here is so resolutely ordinary that it threatens to cross the line into outright dull.
- 50Movie NationRoger MooreMovie NationRoger MooreWiseman has filmed and under-edited what amounts to a public record of a sliver of a village captured at one moment in time, playing up the boredom, celebrating the pace of life yet never noting its problems or discovering its charms.