Tsotsi 2005

Critics score:
82 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: The film is worth seeing, for its faces and its evocation -- not without melodrama, yet not without impact -- of a harsh but not hopeless slum life. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: [Director] Hood gives the film energy by its unexpected locations, a score both jolting and soaring, and a carefully constructed screenplay that makes everyone in this film a dimensional, complicated character. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: The last few moments of this film are deeply and memorably moving. Read more

Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The picture can be squishy and obvious. Yet it works, thanks to Gavin Hood's straightforward, sensitive direction and his star's emotionally charged performance. Read more

Scott Tobias, AV Club: Who knew cold-blooded sociopaths were such softies at heart? Read more

Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic: A deeply moving portrait of a human being, suffering in life and not having any handle on how to deal with it. It's tragedy, not melodrama. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: It's a solid, earnest drama of moral redemption that places old cliches in an unfamiliar setting. Read more

Carina Chocano, Los Angeles Times: Whatever its weaknesses, Tsotsi is redeemed by its excellent performances. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: It lays a stark narrative that's devoid of sentimentality but stoked with emotional power; without getting maudlin, it will tear you to shreds. Read more

Michael Booth, Denver Post: To feel the full power of the movie's wrenching story, you must not rush to judge or embrace young Tsotsi. He is an enigma whose journey is the story. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: Tsotsi never lets go of its edge, and that edge draws blood. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: More calculated than a Starbucks sampler CD, the picture could win the up-from-hardship award. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: It is to [director Gaven] Hood's credit that he does not over-sentimentalize Tsotsi's story, nor does he glamorize thug life like so many American films do. Read more

Jean Nash Johnson, Dallas Morning News: For all its dark edges, Tsotsi comes with a silver lining making it worthy of its squirmy ride. Read more

Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly: A handsomely mounted thriller about an ugly world pinned under the long shadow of apartheid. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The movie's heart, along with [director] Hood's refusal to sugarcoat the grim reality, wins you over no matter how many times you've seen this story told. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: The protagonist's epiphany seems less the organic product of converging circumstances than the dictate of movie convention. Read more

Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger: Tsotsi gets its message across without pandering to the audience. It has a keen sense of subtlety that's often lacking in social awareness cinema. Read more

Bob Mondello, NPR.org: Read more

Jami Bernard, New York Daily News: This Oscar-nominated film convincingly celebrates the embers of decency that can be found in fires that are all but banked. Read more

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: It is a first peek at a South Africa that doesn't need a Hollywood studio or Hollywood stars to present itself to the world, or to come to grips with itself at home. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: An emotionally honest tale of redemption that never forgets there are consequences for bad acts, even when those acts are committed before the arrival of salvation. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: What a simple and yet profound story this is. Read more

Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle: That director Gavin Hood, who wrote the script from a novel by playwright Athol Fugard, could get you to care so much is a mark of the heart that went into making the film. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Rick Groen, Globe and Mail: An evolving tale of redemption, sometimes highly implausible, yet always deeply affecting. Read more

Peter Howell, Toronto Star: Tsotsi presents a world of terrible beauty, where humanity struggles to breathe despite all attempts to snuff it out. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Important and vital -- if a little heavy-handed. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Tsotsi is a compelling and uplifting tale of humanity and dignity in the starkest of environments. Read more

Jessica Winter, Village Voice: That the story can be so easily transposed to the post-apartheid present day is one of the movie's saddest inferences. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: A mixture of thrilling documentary-style realism and Hollywood hokum, Tsotsi leaves you all but tasting the orange dust of Joburg's shantytowns and moved by the harrowing journey Tsotsi (Presley Chweneyagae) is forced to take. Read more