60
Rocky but respectable Land of Plenty proves the helmer often does better with low budgets, fast schedules and young collaborators. Slushy final 10 minutes nearly trashes with triteness the good work that precedes it.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
80
If Land of Plenty isn't always elegant, it has the inexpressible aura of mystery and wonder that exemplifies his best work. Fans will feel echoes of both "Paris, Texas" and "The State of Things" here. Like those movies, this one is less an angry critique than a sad meditation on the American dream, something Wim Wenders understands well and has never been able to resist.
70
The New York Times by Dana Stevens
Land of Plenty, is like a clumsy, well-meaning intervention in a family quarrel. Mr. Wenders may not have the power to heal the rifts his movie acknowledges - and his account of them may not always be persuasive - but there is nonetheless something touching about his heartfelt concern.
50
New York Daily News by Elizabeth Weitzman
Unfortunately, Wendeers frustrated wake-up call quickly buckles under the heavy burden of its earnest message.
75
Works best as an illustration of the way conspiracy theories serve to weave threads of order, however fantastic, during moments of incomprehensible upheaval.
70
Los Angeles Times by Kevin Thomas
Hampered by an ending that overreaches needlessly, the film is nevertheless worthy and unmistakably the effort of an enduringly distinctive and important filmmaker.
40
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Land of Plenty is a woozy fantasia on California dreaming, all agog at urban strife and blabby with redundant voiceover.
70
The Hollywood Reporter by Ray Bennett
Thought-provoking story of how terror and paranoia affect two Americans who love their country.
70
The flawed, fascinating Land of Plenty is easily Wenders' most vital work in more than a decade -- a troubling meditation on terrorism paranoia, poverty and homelessness.
63
Has a few too many coincidences and tends to be sugary, but it has an important precautionary message in this age of terror.