tt stern-enzi Cincinnati CityBeat Aug 26, 2023

Bill Duke’s A Rage in Harlem finds Cincinnati boldly playing a version of New York with moxie to spare...

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Terry Francis Southern Voice (Atlanta) May 9, 2023 2.5/4

Givens is nothing short of spectacular.

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Rene Jordan El Nuevo Herald (Miami) Dec 30, 2022

Whitaker conserves sympathy until the end, but with much visible effort. [Full review in Spanish]

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David Ansen Newsweek Feb 6, 2018

Duke keeps this tangled tale of lust and larceny bouncing with a disreputable, funloving B-movie energy that's hard to resist.

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Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Aug 5, 2013 B

It bleeds for a kind of Harlem justice, as its intense black characters act tough, nasty, sexy, twisty, heroic and lively.

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John Hartl Seattle Times Jul 1, 2013 1.5/4

With its snazzy Elmer Bernstein score, its snappy period flavor and its all-star cast doing something completely different, A Rage in Harlem should have been much more fun than it is.

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Jo Berry Radio Times Jul 1, 2013 4/5

Based on Chester Himes's novel, this is a stylish, fast-moving and often humorous thriller from Deep Cover director Bill Duke.

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Carrie Rickey Philadelphia Inquirer Jul 1, 2013 3/4

Jazzy and jauntily funny.

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Gary Thompson Philadelphia Daily News Jul 1, 2013 2/4

Underneath the fancy trappings, however, is a disappointingly ordinary caper movie that moves far too slowly for a picture of this type.

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Ralph Novak People Magazine Jul 1, 2013

That extraordinary cast, directed by Bill Duke, has little to do other than idle between sporadic outbursts of sadistic violence.

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Jay Boyar Orlando Sentinel Jul 1, 2013 1/5

As the movie becomes increasingly violent and unpleasant, the characters chase around after each other in a threadbare gangster plot about a trunk of gold.

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Michael Sragow The New Yorker Jul 1, 2013

[A] flamboyant, engaging action comedy.

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Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times Jul 1, 2013 4/5

Duke and company have been true to Himes' brash, blaspheming spirit, and that is no small thing.

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Angie Errigo Empire Magazine Jul 1, 2013 2/5

It's largely a cheap looking, tawdry affair, with tortuous interludes in which the humour devolves on gratuitous unpleasantness or tired old bad jokes at the expense of women.

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David Sterritt Christian Science Monitor Jul 1, 2013

Bill Duke directed this mixture of high energy and low vulgarity, which doesn't do justice to the talents of its mostly black cast.

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Dave Kehr Chicago Tribune Jul 1, 2013 3.5/4

Bill Duke's Harlem has the heft of an imaginatively heightened reality; it's a great place to visit.

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Jonathan Rosenbaum Chicago Reader Jul 1, 2013

A delightful rendering of a Chester Himes novel with a 50s setting.

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Lou Cedrone Baltimore Sun Jul 1, 2013 2/4

A Rage in Harlem is an uneven combination of comedy and carnage. When it's good, it's very good. When it's not, it's simply bloody.

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Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly Sep 7, 2011 C-

There's just enough atmosphere, comedy, and raw acting talent in Bill Duke's amiable gangster-caper movie, A Rage In Harlem, to make you wish the plot weren't a complete shambles.

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Variety Staff Variety Mar 26, 2009

Director Bill Duke has brought a stylish sheen to A Rage in Harlem, but his mix of comedy and violence in the Chester Himes period crime tale is dubious.

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