SummaryWinner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, this astonishingly powerful documentary is at once horrifying and exhilarating. Directed and produced by Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine producers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, Trouble the Water takes you inside Hurricane Katrina in a way never before seen on screen. The fil... Read More
Directed By:Carl Deal, Tia Lessin
Trouble the Water
Metascore
Universal Acclaim
83
User score
Generally Favorable
7.3
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Metascore
Universal Acclaim
83
92% Positive
24 Reviews
24 Reviews
8% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
100
Enraging and inspiring. It boasts the miraculous quality of finding a letter in a bottle and discovering that its authors are alive.
100
A marvelous documentary that brings home the terror and heroism brought forth by the Katrina debacle.
88
Slowly builds power to devastating effect.
80
A stirring documentary.
75
Spike Lee's voluminous "When the Levees Broke" proved a thorough indictment, a compilation of tragic and appalling facts encyclopedically catalogued. By contrast, Trouble the Water (on Oscar's short-list in the best doc category) has a more personal focus and, although just as damning, manages to strike a more hopeful chord.
70
Weaker in its second half than its mesmerizing first, as the story moves away from the intensity of the storm to follow the Robertses in their efforts to resettle.
40
Filmmakers Tia Lessin and Carl Deal utilize the footage Kim and Scott Roberts had taken throughout the disaster, showing how residents suffered, survived and came together to help when official assistance let them down.
User score
Generally Favorable
7.3
88% Positive
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
0% Mixed
0 Ratings
0 Ratings
13% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
Sep 1, 2011
7
As motivational as it is, the story of one hurricane Katrina victim doesn't spread far enough to convey any real message. Its interesting but that is about it. The last half an hour is filled with her rap career in order to create a feature length film. I loved the footage from inside the house as the hurricane swept across and also the stories that were told. We just never care deep enough for the main character to ever become fully invested in her and her life.
Production Company:
- Elsewhere Films
Release Date:Aug 22, 2008
Duration:1 h 33 m
Awards
Academy Awards, USA
• 1 Nomination
Full Frame Documentary Film Festival
• 3 Wins & 3 Nominations
Cinema Eye Honors Awards, US
• 2 Nominations
