Critic Reviews

It’s rare that a documentary has the ability to take the kind of long view of events that establishes context and consequence.

And while it’s a difficult sit sometimes, “17 Blocks” is essential viewing for anyone interested in how the confluence of race and class have codified into a sort of informal caste for an entire subsection of America’s citizenry.

An engrossing and frequently extraordinary feature.

Considering that it was filmed in bits and pieces over two decades, it's not surprising that 17 Blocks is disjointed in its storytelling, nor that its technical elements are ragged (subtitles are frequently employed due to poor sound quality). But it nonetheless packs a potent emotional punch.

Even when the direction is heavy-handed, the Sanfords are just too compelling to ignore.

17 Blocks ... is packed with gritty realism, and at times its uncensored honesty almost makes you want to look away.

It’s valuable when any vérité documentary with such a vantage point is able to show us how many societal ills — from addiction to gun violence to poverty to gentrification to incarceration — can touch one family, keeping them in a near-constantly reeling state.

The film is as intimate as it can be, but at times, feels like an invasion of privacy.