SummaryFollows three young public defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
Directed By:Dawn Porter
Written By:Matthew Hamachek, Dawn Porter
Gideon's Army
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
87
User score
Universal Acclaim
8.3
My Score
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Top Cast
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
100% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
0% Mixed
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Jun 27, 2013
100
Gideon’s Army is a bare film with no narrator and a minimal soundtrack. That’s all it needs to grab you by the throat.
Jun 25, 2013
100
Porter's film is dramatic, unsettling, despairing, and in the end thrilling -- at some point, it grows from a portrait of this country's problems into a celebration of a possible solution.
Jun 18, 2013
90
Gideon’s Army is an eye-opening insight into a judicial hellhole world that ordinary citizens can never imagine.
Feb 16, 2016
80
Gideon’s Army does what the best documentaries have always done: It makes us think about something we’d rather not.
Jun 18, 2013
80
Like the film itself, Porter’s handful of devoted, charismatic attorneys do a righteous job of reminding people that the accused are innocent until proven guilty, and that the criminal justice system seems otherwise disposed.
Feb 16, 2016
75
What Gideon's Army does is make a respectful case on the behalf of a profession that too often gets maligned.
Jul 8, 2013
75
Porter's film is not just a stirring testament to those taking on a Herculean task of bringing some sense of fairness and balance to an out of whack structure, but a reminder that there is still a far distance to go before everyone is equally represented in front of lady justice.
User score
Universal Acclaim
89% Positive
16 Ratings
16 Ratings
6% Mixed
1 Rating
1 Rating
6% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Oct 19, 2013
9
A fascinating and totally engaging documentary on a subject of deep importance for America's ever-growing epidemic of poverty and incarceration. Can't recommend it enough; this should be mandatory viewing for every American citizen and indeed anyone interested in issues of crime and punishment. Highly recommended alongside the (fictional) film Blackbird, which deftly handles the same issues albeit from a Canadian standpoint.
Production Company:
- Doc Society
- HBO Documentary Films
- Motto Pictures
- Trilogy Films
Release Date:Jun 28, 2013
Duration:1 h 36 m
Rating:TV-14
Tagline:Everyone deserves the best defense. They fight to provide it.
Website:
Awards
Miami Film Festival
• 2 Wins & 2 Nominations
Sundance Film Festival
• 1 Win & 2 Nominations
Film Independent Spirit Awards
• 1 Nomination
