Click to read the article
Comment
02/09/06
Emmanuel's Gift (2005)
81 %
Reviews Counted: 21 Fresh: 17 Rotten:4 Average Rating: 6.4/10
Runtime: 82 mins
Synopsis: If you are born disabled in Ghana, West Africa you are likely to be poisoned, or left to die by your family; if you are not poisoned or left for dead, you're likely to be hidden away in a room; and if you're not hidden, you are destined to spend your lifetime begging on the streets. Of the twenty... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Reviews
Top CriticClick to read the article
08/16/07
[It] is essentially a too-long overcoming-the-odds clip that helps fill up a hole or two in the Olympics TV schedule. Back to you, Bob Costas.
04/04/06
[E]xtra poignant not just because it's true but also because of the refusal of directors Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern to pander to easy sentiment or to place Yeboah on a pedestal of superhumanity...
01/03/06
Top Critic
...a wonderfully inspiring film about overcoming disabilities and not forgetting others who also share your problems.
12/06/05
An inspiring documentary about a charismatic and determined young man who almost single-handedly has changed the way the disabled are treated in Ghana, Africa.
12/04/05
While Emmanuel's Gift has a moving story to tell, it does so in a less than compelling manner.
11/29/05
Top Critic
Emmanuel's Gift is certainly not a bad movie. It's just a case of good intentions unintentionally interfering with a great story.
11/03/05
Top Critic
A documentary about Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, a one-legged young man from Ghana, Africa, who overcame his handicap to ride a bicycle across his country, among other amazing achievements.
10/28/05
Unfortunately, the sound-bite journalism of filmmakers Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern glosses over the larger unanswered questions in the documentary.
10/22/05
Yeboah is so levelheaded about his own accomplishments that the swelling score and emotional narration from Oprah Winfrey feel embarrassingly sentimental.
10/21/05
Directed in the breathless inspirational tones of an infomercial, the film's an acceptable document of a thoroughly remarkable individual.
10/21/05
Oprah Winfrey narrates, so you know this is a tear-jerking story of triumph through and through. With a little more production, heck, it could've been a sweeps-week ratings bonanza.
10/21/05
Top Critic
Emmanuel's Gift is a powerful story of political change almost smothered by contrivance.
10/20/05
Top Critic
Emmanuel's Gift isn't great, but the story is and so, unquestionably, is Emmanuel himself.
10/20/05
This film becomes memorable through the sheer force of Emmanuel's personality: his ready smile, his intent gaze, his fierce resolution and the way he keeps moving forward, against all barriers.
10/20/05
Click to read the article
10/20/05
Top Critic
IGN RSS Feeds