51
Metascore
10 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Film ThreatPhil HallFilm ThreatPhil HallA raw, brutal, hypnotic journey into the world of seven heroin addicts who barely survive on the streets of New York City. It is a film of great sadness and pain.
- 75Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittThe material is vivid and harrowing, although the movie provides little analysis or larger-scale context.
- 75New York PostV.A. MusettoNew York PostV.A. MusettoIt's depressing as hell. While most of the seven say they want to beat the habit and become productive citizens, only one, Ron, follows through successfully.
- 70Village VoiceLaura SinagraVillage VoiceLaura SinagraThe total effect, of course, is abject sadness as we helplessly watch each enact a unique anti-success story in an inverted reality show.
- 50New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanNew York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanA moving film but not, to be frank, an entirely memorable one.
- 50L.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonL.A. WeeklyJohn PattersonWithout a well-delineated political or social framework, Union Square offers little that we didn't already know.
- 40TV Guide MagazineKen FoxTV Guide MagazineKen FoxLike its seven subjects, it can't see past the immediate demands of addiction, and the film becomes a seemingly endless string of scenes depicting shooting up, nodding out and waiting around for the next fix.
- 30Los Angeles TimesManohla DargisLos Angeles TimesManohla DargisFar more troubling than the documentary's lack of data and analysis, its refusal to pose even basic questions -- whether, for instance, the so-called war on drugs is a total farce -- is the sense that these seven lost souls are principally on display for our viewing displeasure.