84
Metascore
16 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Austin ChronicleAustin ChronicleFor in relating the true story of Conlon's wrongful conviction and 15-year imprisonment, Sheridan has used the tools of the filmmaker to evoke a visceral echo of Conlon's waking nightmare.
- 100ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliJim Sheridan skillfully interweaves a myriad of subplots and themes into a fast-paced, cohesive whole.
- 91Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanEntertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanSheridan, however, works with such piercing fervor and intelligence that In the Name of the Father just about transcends its tidy moral design.
- 90The New York TimesThe New York TimesAnd, riskiest of all, the film makers eschewed another grainy documentary go at the subject in favor of a movie drama of one of the most compelling true stories of the modern troubles.
- 90Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonIn the Name of the Father is as good a compromise of fact and fiction as you could hope for -- and still call it a movie.
- 90The New YorkerThe New YorkerThe picture turns into a kind of stylized morality play about the right and the wrong ways for Irishmen to respond to distorted portraits of their character, and it's terrifically effective.
- 80Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumBut the acting's so good it frequently transcends the simplicities of the script, and whenever Day-Lewis or Postlethwaite is on-screen the movie crackles.
- 80TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissBy the end of the movie, whether or not you're a member of Sinn Fein, the Brits' brutality toward the Conlons will get your Irish up.
- 75Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe movie does a harrowing job of showing how, and why, a man might be made to confess to a bombing he didn't commit.
- 63The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenHe gets much of what he wants, but not all of it, and not all of the time - the film is just too eclectic on occasion, a bit jumpy in its tone and its pacing.