Out of the Blue 2006

Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Times: Like Steven Spielberg's historical epics, the film shows the nastiest incidents from a great distance, or cuts away before a bullet's impact to show an onlooker's shocked reaction. The director confronts horror without wallowing in it. Read more

Jack Mathews, New York Daily News: Robert Sarkies' dramatization of that event is as sensitive to its subject as it is stark in its rendering. Read more

V.A. Musetto, New York Post: Sarkies avoids the genre's conventional trappings and prefers instead to concentrate on the ways in which the people of Aramoana deal with the unfolding event. Read more

David Fear, Time Out: The usual dramatic affectations applied to such true-life material are largely absent; instead, Sarkies focuses on various quotidian elements that take on weight as the inevitable draws closer. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: An effectively harrowing and non-exploitative recap of real-life events. Read more

Aaron Hillis, Village Voice: There's some nifty soft-focus cinematography and fine performances, but otherwise, not much to resonate on this side of the pond. Read more