88% Into The Abyss

All Critics (50) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (44) | Rotten (6)

An inquiry into fundamental moral, philosophical, and religious issues, and an examination of humankind's capacity for violence - individual and institutional.

Watching Into the Abyss, I had the overwhelming sense that, somewhere along the way, Werner Herzog lost his way.

It's like a TV crime reality show made by an alien.

What could have been a well-aimed examination of the most troubling contradictions of capital punishment instead becomes a maudlin, unrestrained wallow.

Werner Herzog looks at the death penalty in "Into the Abyss," and as is almost always the case, to look through his eyes is to marvel.

Any subject Werner Herzog wants to explore is surely worthy of our interest. And his latest documentary is a characteristically insightful study of human nature.

Into the Abyss is both affecting and frustrating, the work of a smart and sensitive filmmaker who, much like the justice system he confronts, mistakes half-formed ideas for profound truth.

Presented with a humanist respect for the people in the movie that is both rare and heart-wrenching.

It's an uneven movie, but a heartfelt and honest one.

Herzog takes a startlingly clear-eyed look at crime and capital punishment in Texas. . . He just seeks to shine a light on the facts for the viewer to soberly decide.

A disturbing profile of a rural Texas community where disintegrated families produce a culture dominated by substance abuse, violence, illiteracy and other problems.

Get lost in Herzog's 'Abyss'

Powerful and profoundly moving. You'll never look at the death penalty the same way again.

Easily one of the best documentaries of the year, this riveting, haunting piece of work fits perfectly into Herzog's resume as one of our most important living filmmakers.

A film that will make anyone who sees it actually sit and contemplate their position at length, regardless of their current stance on the subject.

The subject matter in Into the Abyss is harrowing stuff, and though Herzog has never shied away from harrowing, he also presents it with respect and curiosity, making it easily palatable.

Haunting and urgent.Herzog's tough-minded film takes an uncompromising stand against the death penalty,but goes beyond to look at the larger issue of crime and blighted lives

The film demonstrates Werner Herzog's unparalleled knack for drawing out the harmony and discord in nature.

Herzog might have an opinion, but he does not take a side.

Herzog's film examines the taking of life, whether the person who is dying is a criminal...or a woman interrupted while making cookies, as Stotler was, but it does so in an oddly distanced manner.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/into_the_abyss_2011/

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