Brian Banks - Movie Reviews (2025)

Brian Banks is an effective indictment of the business of the criminal justice system when politics dictate someone eventually has to pay for the people’s investment, whether they are guilty or innocent.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 20, 2022

There are also great life lessons in this film that will inspire both teens and adults.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4.0 | Nov 21, 2020

Shadyac frames it wisely by shooting the film in non-chronological order and allowing us to become immersed in Banks as a human being.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.0/4.0 | Sep 4, 2020

The movie is an intelligent and heartfelt account of a serious miscarriage of justice.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2020

This is a great story, well told, about a man who refuses to give up on his quest for justice, despite the incredible odds against him.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 24, 2020

Director Tom Shadyac respects the moral clarity in the Brian Banks screenplay by Doug Atchison, who also wrote the moving Akeelah and the Bee, another keen observation of individual action over activism.

Full Review | Jan 24, 2020

What had the potential to be a really strong film ultimately comes across as a better-than-average-looking TV movie of the week.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 2, 2019

Brian Banks tells but one story of our broken system of justice, and it tells it very well.

Full Review | Aug 30, 2019

It is gut-wrenching to watch the unfairness Banks endured and Hodge's performance is amazingly true to life. ..a film that will stay with you for a long time.

Full Review | Original Score: 9/10 | Aug 21, 2019

Brian Banks is a feel-good movie of triumph over insurmountable odds. Bank's story is one of hope and inspiration and takes only a minor misstep...

Full Review | Original Score: 8.5/10 | Aug 20, 2019

"Brian Banks" might not be original, but it's an important tale to tell and one that's told well. (Full Content Review for Parents - Violence, Profanity, etc. - also Available)

Full Review | Aug 16, 2019

There's plenty injustice here to enrage the thinking, feeling citizen, but despite a passionate performance by charismatic Aldis Hodge, this docudrama is nowhere near incensed enough on his behalf.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Aug 15, 2019

Aldis Hodge delivers a powerful performance that carries the film in this cautionary true story of Brian Banks which hits close to home in today's society.

Full Review | Aug 15, 2019

An incredible true story that should have never happened.

Full Review | Original Score: 4 | Aug 14, 2019

Shadyac removes every ounce of subtlety from the story...there were better ways to tell this story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 14, 2019

Shadyak plays things straight, with no show-offy visual flourishes, slowly building a full head of indignation and then letting all that pressure out with a whoosh of relief. Best of all, he gets really strong performances out of his players.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2019

This is a perfectly serviceable movie -- it's a drama, it's well-acted, it's well-written. It's working, generally speaking.

Full Review | Aug 12, 2019

Yes, Brian Banks suffered a terrible injustice... but it shouldn't have to come at the expense of so many other victims.

Full Review | Original Score: C- | Aug 12, 2019

Perhaps a documentary would have suited Brian Banks' story more appropriately.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 11, 2019

Solid and sincere, perhaps provoking discussion about sexual misconduct.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Aug 11, 2019