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Reviews Counted:56
Fresh:28
Rotten:28
Average Rating:5.6/10
Consensus: Well intentioned and passionate, this docu-drama about the 1999 WTO protests draws stronger political assertions than it does strong characters.
Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Actor Stuart Townsend (HEAD IN THE CLOUDS) makes an accomplished writing and directing debut with BATTLE IN SEATTLE, a fictionalized account of the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings and... [More]
Starring: Charlize Theron, Martin Henderson, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Rodriguez
Director: Stuart Townsend
While stiff where it counts the most, Seattle does stimulate the senses, projecting rage and discontent, reminding the viewer that mobilization is a critical step toward any form of change. It's hard to argue such passion.
An ambitious directorial debut from Irish actor Stuart Townsend that does an impressive job recreating the 1999 protests that accompanied the World Trade Organization's arrival in Seattle.
The intent may be to provide distance between topic and teller, but the result is more wishy-washy than neutrally clarifying.
Townsend smothers any sense of global immediacy by covering the action with a frayed patchwork of melodramatic coincidences,
The drama gets heavy-handed at times, but the film is a triumph, thanks to a crack cast including Connie Nielson, stunning as a TV reporter who joins her subjects in protest.
Wisely uses the docudrama approach rather than talking heads to dramatize the 1999 protests against the World Trade Organization.
Fictionalized drama frustrates, rather than facilitates, understanding about the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) protests in Battle to Seattle.
If [the film] inspires even one moviegoer to learn more about how an organization like the WTO affects his or her life, then Townsend has performed a valuable public service.
"Battle In Seattle" is a poignant depiction of a dire fight for justice that found traction over a period of several days, in a story that was misrepresented by the American media. Here then, is a closer view of those events and motivations of the people
[Director Stuart] Townsend believes in the politics and the passion of the protesters; he makes their concerns heard over the media noise focused on the spectacle of conflict.
Watching it is like being jabbed in the belly with a police baton, and not in a good way.
By not necessarily glorifying the activists while agreeing with their cause, writer-director Stuart Townsend creates a multilayered portrait of an eventful five days.
What began as an insightful study of how things went so horribly wrong at this event becomes yet another saccharine drama about fighting the power.
...an entertaining yet heavy-handed and ultimately simplistic look at the '99 WTO protests that essentially turned Seattle into a war zone.
While it makes no bones about where its sympathies lie, these fictional stories show a genuine fascination with the role politics plays on both sides of such confrontations and how things can spin out of control with no single person to blame.
Top CriticEffectively mixing original broadcast and amateur vid footage (especially during scenes of crowd panic and police brutality) with interwoven fictive strands, Townsend acquits himself well, if not outstandingly, as both writing and directing newbie.
Top Critic
March 21, 2009:
In the continued acceleration of doc and drama cross-breeding, the movie is adept at fleshing out opposing points of view leading to a city under siege, but setting the stage for a tad too impartial percolating political passions. 
More...
March 21, 2009:
In the continued acceleration of doc and drama cross-breeding, the movie is adept at fleshing out opposing points of view leading to a city under siege, but setting the stage for a tad too impartial percolating political passions.
More...
September 18, 2008:
Critics Consensus: Lakeview Terrace Isn't Sturdy; Igor Lacks Brains
This week at the movies, we've got an angry cop (Lakeview Terrace, starring Samuel L. Jackson); a disgruntled hunchback (the CGI Igor with voice work by John Cusack and Molly... More...
September 16, 2008:
Exclusive Clips: Charlize Theron in Battle in Seattle
Watch Charlize Theron in two exclusive clips from Battle in Seattle, a fictional retelling of the five tumultuous days in 1999 when thousands of protesters stormed the streets... More...
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