Given the power of its story, One Day in September seems at times to be pushing too hard.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Straightforward but nonetheless powerful documentary.
San Francisco Chronicle by Edward Guthmann
Impassioned and well-crafted, One Day in September is also grueling.
New York Daily News by Jami Bernard
A gripping thriller whose terror -- unfortunately -- comes from real life.
Dallas Observer by Jean Oppenheimer
Nothing, however, can diminish the sense of horror we feel at what happened that day in September, while Macdonald's revelations and the candid comments he elicits more than make up for the film's less successful elements.
A gripping reminder of a brutal chapter of 20th-century history.
Austin Chronicle by Marjorie Baumgarten
Scores its ultimate coup de grace though its interviews. Macdonald has lined up an amazing collection of interviewees.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington
Sweeps us back into a terrifying and desperate string of events and makes us feel them - and, more crucially, understand them as well.
One Day in September does "being there" very well -- I just wish director Macdonald had spent a little more time explaining why we should want to be there in the first place.
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
The film, built of interviews with participants, is fast-paced, utterly absorbing and ultimately tragic.