Dan DiNicola The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, NY) Feb 3, 2018

At the center of the drama is Nicole Beharie, who inhabits her role as a woman unjustly maligned with intelligence, conviction and regal sense of pride.

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Candice Frederick Reel Talk Online Sep 12, 2017 A

It's beautifully told, passionate and sensitive to the true story and the victims that lived it.

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Kelly Vance East Bay Express Aug 18, 2011

Less a social-problem film than a drama of personal courage.

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John Hartl Seattle Times Oct 15, 2009 3/4

While it may be about as subtle as a swinging sledgehammer, it does leave its mark.

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Michael Dequina TheMovieReport.com Aug 31, 2009 3.5/4

Nicole. Beharie. Remember the name, for if her stunning lead turn is any indication, huge things are in the future.

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Sonny Bunch Washington Times Aug 30, 2009 3/4

[American Violet] is so compelling and intriguing that it's easy for the audience to forget they're being preached to.

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Robert W. Butler Kansas City Star Jul 17, 2009 3/4

Put on your outrage cap.

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Mike Scott Times-Picayune Jul 17, 2009 2/4

It does almost everything well, from the direction to the performances. But it does nothing great, dragged down by an uninspired, and oddly uninspiring, script.

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Keith Cohen Entertainment Spectrum Jul 16, 2009 3.5/4

Newcomer Beharie gives a polished performance that deserves awards consideration.

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Clay Cane BET.com Jun 10, 2009 A

It's not enough for a movie to have a Black cast for it to be good, it must have good writing, engaging stories and impassioned actors. This film has all three.

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Tom Long Detroit News May 15, 2009 C+

A well-played if too-familiar story of oppression and injustice.

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Amy Biancolli Houston Chronicle May 1, 2009 3.5/4

A conventional but wholly gripping docudrama.

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Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor May 1, 2009 B+

Director Tim Disney and screenwriter Bill Haney lay out Dee's story with a minimum of fuss. They are smart enough to realize that the material is compelling all on its own.

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Gary Thompson Philadelphia Daily News May 1, 2009 B

American Violet is an earnest muckraker about the justice system that won't win points for style, but wins plenty for substance.

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Jonathan Curiel San Francisco Chronicle May 1, 2009 3/4

American Violet dramatizes Kelly's case, and does so in a way that will leave audiences applauding in their seats -- and wondering how much of the film is true.

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Steven Rea Philadelphia Inquirer May 1, 2009 3/4

A torn-from-the-headlines tale of institutional racism and injustice in the Lone Star State of not-so-long-ago, American Violet might not be subtle, but it's certainly powerful.

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Wesley Morris Boston Globe Apr 30, 2009 2/4

American Violet feels less like life and unreasonably more like the movies.

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Marjorie Baumgarten Austin Chronicle Apr 30, 2009 3/4

Movingly told and packed with powerful subject matter.

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Brian Tallerico Movie Retriever Apr 21, 2009

Thematically, there's a lot to like here, but the execution couldn't be more heavy-handed and two-dimensional.

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Laura Clifford Reeling Reviews Apr 20, 2009 B-

...a well acted piece and a scary indictment of the American penal system.

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