RottenTomatoes.com
Log In | Register | What is RT?
Found a Bug? Squash It! Report Bugs Here
  • Home
  • Movies
  • DVD
  • Celebrities
  • News
  • Critics
  • Trailers & Pictures
  • CommunityBeta
  • Box Office
  • | Best Of
  • | Certified Fresh
  • | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches.
 
Movies / On DVD / Sounder
Sounder

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Add to List
  • Buy Poster External Icon
Bookmark and Share

Sounder (1972)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
88 %
Tomatometer
Template ImageTemplate Image

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted:16

Fresh:14

Rotten:2

Average Rating:7.7/10

Runtime: 1 hr 45 mins

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: An extremely powerful and uplifting story about a family of black sharecroppers, the Morgans, set in rural Louisiana during the early 1930s, Martin Ritt's SOUNDER is so simple and effective that it... An extremely powerful and uplifting story about a family of black sharecroppers, the Morgans, set in rural Louisiana during the early 1930s, Martin Ritt's SOUNDER is so simple and effective that it evokes an emotional response from viewers of all ages. Even so, SOUNDER is not a children's film by any means; it treats serious, adult issues, and features some of the most deeply felt performances and mature relationships ever captured on film. SOUNDER's title comes from the name of the Morgan family dog that young David Lee Morgan takes with him while hunting with his father, Nathan. Unfortunately, times are so hard for the Morgans that when Nathan tries to steal a ham for his family, he is caught and sent to a labor camp. David, now the man of the house, sets out on a journey to find the camp where his father was sent. On his way, he comes across an all-black school where he enrolls, learning empowering lessons about black achievement in America. Based on the Newberry Award winning novel by William H. Armstrong, SOUNDER not only improves on its source material, but it is also one of the rare films about the black experience that moves people of all races. [More]

Starring: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Carmen Mathews, Kevin Hooks

Starring: Cicely Tyson, Paul Winfield, Carmen Mathews, Kevin Hooks, Taj Mahal, Janet MacLachlan, James Best, Yvonne Jarrell

Director: Martin Ritt

Director: Martin Ritt
Screenwriter: Lonne Elder, III
Producer: Robert B. Radnitz
Composer: Taj Mahal

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Sounder

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
  • DVD
 
 
1 - 17 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Ritt's film must respond to the needs of an entertainment industry, and in its desire to be uplifting, leaves its characters one-dimensional without ensuring that the one dimension is heroic.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Derek Adams
Derek Adams
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Heartbreaking and intelligent.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
04/03/07
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

No review available.

comment Comment
11/23/04
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

A masterwork from director Martin Ritt. Movies are rarely this empathetic.

comment Comment
07/27/02
Chuck Rudolph
Chuck Rudolph
Matinee Magazine

No review available.

comment Comment
10/17/07
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Another fine example of Martin Ritt's earthy southern dramas

Full Review Source: All Movie Guide | comment Comment
06/19/02
Dan Jardine
Dan Jardine
All Movie Guide

Painfully honest, unpretentious, and blessedly simple.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
01/01/00
Dave Kehr
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader

A very fine unpretentious, heartwarming and uplifting family drama about a Deep South black sharecropper family trying to survive during the Depression.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
05/30/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

Honest and touching, Martin Ritt's Oscar-nominated Sounder, a Depression-era saga, does proud the American family and the American family movie genre.

Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | comment Comment
03/05/09
Emanuel Levy
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

comment Comment
06/15/05
Lori Hoffman
Lori Hoffman
Atlantic City Weekly

Director Martin Ritt soaks us in the heat, the beauty, the racism and the buzzing cicadas of Louisiana.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
04/03/07
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

Affecting update of the coming-of-age classic.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
12/01/09
Nancy Davis Kho
Nancy Davis Kho
Common Sense Media

No review available.

comment Comment
12/05/02
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

No review available.

comment Comment
07/29/02
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

It is one of the most compassionate and truthful of movies, and there's not a level where it doesn't succeed completely.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
10/23/04
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

If Sounder, an inteligent enough movie, avoids all the major pitfalls of its type, it also lacks the excitement that may have come from plumbing greater depths and discovering a few tougher, less accessible insights.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/09/05
Roger Greenspun
Roger Greenspun
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
03/26/09
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
 
 
1 - 17 (sorted by fresh rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View
See All

More DVDs

Top Rentals
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
36% 36% Angels & Demons
25% 25% Four Christmases
68% 68% Funny People
95% 95% Star Trek
14% 14% The Ugly Truth

More Rentals…

New On DVD This Week
Tomatometer Percentage Movie
83% 83% Harry Potter and the H…
67% 67% Public Enemies
75% 75% Julie & Julia
95% 95% The Cove
85% 85% World's Greatest Dad

More New Releases…

What’s Hot On RT

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Twilight Saga: Eclipse

5 facts straight from the cast.

Disney Animation

Disney Animation

We chart the studio's classics.

Avatar

Avatar

An exclusive look at the human hardware.

Eric Bana

Eric Bana

The Star Trek star talks cars with RT.

Other News

  • Top Stories
  • Popular
  • Interviews
 
 

Comments

 
 
Top Stories
Headlines Comments
  
  • Exclusive: The World of Where the Wild Things Are
12
  • Peter Jackson Talks Hobbit, LotR Blu-ray Source: Collider.com
13
  • Woman Jailed for Filming New Moon Screening Source: Chicago Sun-Times
14
  • McG Has Plans for Fifth and Sixth Terminator Movies Source: Gizmodo
147
  • Spielberg Hops Away from Harvey Source: Variety
22
  • Tarantino Could Have Directed Green Lantern Source: MTV
24
  • Will Duvall be Gilliam's Don Quixote? Source: Collider.com
26
  • No Hobbit Until 2012? Source: The Wrap
22
  • Don't Hold Your Breath for Hancock 2 Source: HitFix
42
  • Peter Berg Talks Battleship Source: CHUD
2
Popular
Headlines Comments
  
  • Total Recall: Natalie Portman's Best Movies
82
  • Five Favorite Films with Jason Reitman
56
  • Critics Consensus: Everybody's Fine Is Just OK
50
  • 10 Horrifically Profitable Films
46
  • Sundance 2010: RT's 10 Most Anticipated Movies
41
  • Five Favorite Films with Jesse Ventura
40
  • Weekly Ketchup: Tron Team to Remake The Black Hole
37
  • Awards Tour: National Board of Review Winners List!
28
  • Box Office Guru Wrapup: The Blind Side Takes the Lead
26
  • Friday Harvest: Iron Man 2, Harry Potter, and more!
24
Interviews
Headlines Comments
  
  • Director Ruben Fleischer Talks Zombieland
2
  • "I Don't Hate Women": Lars von Trier on Antichrist
17
  • Eric Bana talks Love the Beast - RT Interview
12
  • Fight Club Sound Designer Reflects on Film's 10th Anniversary
23
  • James Schamus talks Taking Woodstock - RT Interview
8
  • John Hurt Talks Harry Potter, Quentin Crisp and Alien - The RT Interview
15
  • Terry Gilliam Talks Doctor Parnassus
22
  • Wes Anderson Talks Fantastic Mr. Fox - RT Interview
9
  • Wolverine Creator Len Wein Talks About the Film
28
  • Gavin Hood Talks Wolverine; Possible Sequel
30
 
 

Sponsored Links

Around The Network

  • Sounder at Rotten Tomatoes
  • Sounder at IGN

Fresh Links

Featured
RT on YouTube
RT on YouTube External Link

Subscribe to RT's YouTube channel and don't miss a second of our cracking video content.

RT on Twitter
RT on Twitter External Link

Follow Rotten Tomatoes and join us as we tweet about the week's releases.

 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive | Green Pixels


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2009, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.