Crude unfolds like a pretty good legal thriller. Which, when you really think about it, is what this documentary feature is.
Comment
12/10/09
Crude (2009)
96
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:45
Fresh:43
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.6/10
Consensus: Dynamic, tightly arranged, and deliberately provocative, Joe Berlinger's Crude is a sobering, enraging wake-up call.
Genre: Education/General Interest
Synopsis: Director Joe Berlinger continues in the tradition of his justice-driven films BROTHER’S KEEPER and PARADISE LOST with this documentary. CRUDE travels to South America, where it investigates the... [More]
Director: Joe Berlinger
Reviews for Crude
'Crude,' thankfully, brings insight and urgency to an issue that has until recently been ignored
12/06/09
An engrossing case for justice.
12/03/09
Top CriticA gripping, multifaceted thriller about media politics, global economics, and legal infighting. Wherever your sympathies fall, this may teach you a lot about the way the modern world works.
12/03/09
One has to wonder if oil industry executives are concerned about the release of Joe Berlinger's damning documentary.
12/03/09
What Crude does best is take us behind the scenes and show in often candid detail how campaigns are waged, tactics decided on and strategies prioritized.
12/03/09
Top CriticAs the film very eloquently implies, when the greater good is defined as profits, and a lack of culpability is proportionate to your number of shareholders, well . . . a lot of petroleum-soaked chickens will be coming home to roost.
12/02/09
An elegantly structured, horrifying film that shows the vanishing rainforest may be the least of the Amazon's worries.
11/13/09
While the audience may see smoking guns in every oily soil sample and every sick kid, Crude is only a progress report of a case that might last until well into the decade, the sordid details of which are still, pardon the pun, spilling out.
11/12/09
At first Crude looks like one more environmental agit-doc intended to outrage and inspire. Director Joe Berlinger is no doctrinaire hack, though.
11/05/09
If you ever had doubts about the impact that celebrities can have on such a David-and-Goliath struggle, Berlinger methodically removes them.
10/23/09
...good documentary filmmaking and an interesting, thought-provoking, subject.
10/17/09
It's a David-and-Goliath tale, full of anger and disturbing accusation, but it's also inspiring.
10/14/09
...a better balance of the human element against that of politics and courtrooms would have given the film a stronger emotional hook.
10/12/09
This isn't just a story of right and wrong, it's a story of money and media and, most of all, spin.
10/12/09
Looking for another reason to leave your car at home? Go see Crude.
10/09/09
A legal thriller, it's a three-year investigation into the disaster environmentalists call the “Amazonian Chernobyl” that offers both sides of the story and leaves the viewer in the position of jury.
10/09/09
It will certainly remain in your mind the next time you stop for gas.
10/09/09
Crude has all the hallmarks of a John Grisham story - sharp lawyers, raw greed, Big Business behaving badly. The difference is that this David-vs.-Goliath story is no work of fiction.
10/09/09
Berlinger provides a bracing and intelligent look at how such battles are (and perhaps must be) fought in a world that's hardly lacking when it comes to tales of injustice.
10/09/09
Latest News for Crude
September 10, 2009:
Critics Consensus: 9 Looks Great, But The Plot's Weak
This week at the movies, we've got post-apocalyptic conflict (9, with voice work by Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly); Antarctic intrigue (Whiteout, starring Kate Beckinsale... More...
August 11, 2009:
Trailer & Poster review 
More...
What’s Hot On RT
Other News
Fresh Links
Featured
RT on YouTube
Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.
RT on Twitter
Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.
IGN RSS Feeds