This is a man it is impossible not to like, even if you think he was a weakish one-term commander-in-chief. At least he was not Nixon or Bush Jr.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 15, 2008

This portrait of former US President Jimmy Carter could come across as propaganda. Director Jonathan Demme clearly has an admiration for his subject.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2008

A heartening example of a reputation deservedly rehabilitated.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 15, 2008

Not ground-breaking cinema, but a reminder that Christians can be tolerant and politicians principled.

Full Review | Aug 15, 2008

Essentially a soap opera.

Full Review | Aug 15, 2008

Only belatedly, with the arrival of Alan Dershowitz, does Demme happen across anybody who might disrupt the air of non-confrontational niceness, but Carter ducks the challenge, and the film heads ever onwards into hagiography. A disappointment.

Full Review | Aug 15, 2008

Demme's fascinating documentary shows Carter on a US tour to promote the book. Perhaps Carter - and Demme himself - imagined this would be as trouble-free as Al Gore promoting environmentalism.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2008

Jimmy Carter Man from Plains is an affectionate and admiring portrait of a politician who, like Al Gore, became more idealistic and effective on the world stage once he left office.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 15, 2008

An intriguing historical document, not attempting a completist portrait of Carter but rather a series of candids.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 20, 2008

Demme says he entered the project expecting 'fireworks,' and he gets them time and again...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Jan 11, 2008

Whether you're of the opinion that Carter is a misguided meddler or a worthy Nobel Peace Prize-winner (he won the award in 2002), Jonathan Demme's new documentary about the 39th president will provide you with plenty of ammunition.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Dec 7, 2007

Moviegoers might initially find the inside peek into a media book tour fascinating. But the tedium of trekking from hotel to car to interview and back to a waiting limo can wear down one's resolve.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Nov 24, 2007

From the open-air stroll he took down Pennsylvania Ave. on his inauguration day, to the sunny-coloured cardigans he wore when addressing the nation, president James T. Carter always seemed like a guy who wanted people to remember he was one of them.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 17, 2007

Regardless of your feelings about Carter's presidency or his 21st century views, you have to be amazed and impressed by his energy and his spirit and his commitment to the world.

Full Review | Nov 6, 2007

An intriguing document of a man's public and private life and has yet further value as the first significant film ever made about a former U.S. president.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/4 | Nov 2, 2007

Demme doesn't insert himself, there's no structured interview format, we never see him or even hear his voice. He simply, easily immerses us. It's the opposite of Fahrenheit 9/11. And that's refreshing.

Full Review | Nov 2, 2007

One reason to see this film might be to learn more about [Carter's] views on the Middle East, but a better reason might be to observe how he attends to the privilege and responsibility of doing what he believes is the right thing.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 2, 2007

The portrait of Carter has been described as hagiography, but it isn't a stretch to view his quiet integrity as saintly next to the track records of his successors.

Full Review | Nov 2, 2007

The movie's best material is archival. It looks like old home movie stuff, but you can still feel its monumentality.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 2, 2007

Carter comes off as compassionate and intelligent. But the complex issues brought up in his book don't get much more than a superficial debate.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Nov 1, 2007