71
Metascore
20 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxWarmly funny and very moving.
- 80Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumSensitive, intelligent, enlightening, and sometimes surprising.
- 80Film ThreatEric CamposFilm ThreatEric CamposAn entertaining experience as the filmmakers focus on a few select boys who provide a wealth of charm as they struggle with their new surroundings.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoSeventy percent of black boys in Baltimore do not graduate from high school. They're more likely to land in jail -- or a cemetery. But there is hope, according to The Boys of Baraka, an uplifting documentary.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardThe results are amazing, though bittersweet, and demonstrate how complicated and expensive it is (though not impossible) to break the cycle of poverty, crime and lack of education.
- 70The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood ReporterThe docu is not visually innovative, but the content more than makes up for what it lacks in style.
- 70The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe Boys of Baraka is so rich that you wish there were more of it.
- 50VarietyJoe LeydonVarietyJoe LeydonFeels achingly sad and frustratingly incomplete.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayEwing and Grady practically squander the African material, and The Boys Of Baraka doesn't really come to life until the boys return to Baltimore for what turns out to be a permanent summer vacation, due to political unrest overseas.
- 40Village VoiceLaura SinagraVillage VoiceLaura SinagraThe Boys of Baraka's heart may be in the right place, but its portrait of poor Baltimore kids selected to attend boarding school in Kenya is rife with suspect perspectives.