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Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

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Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

Released Apr 21, 2017

1h 32m

Documentary

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Popcornmeter

95%

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57 Reviews

69%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

Arguably no one did more to shape understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Here, she fights against the ruthless redevelopment projects of urban planner Robert Moses.

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Critics Consensus

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City offers a compelling overview of an influential activist's importance -- and underscores why the spirit of her work remains crucial today.

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Like his previous film, Valentino: The Last Emperor, about the famous fashion designer, director Matt Tyrnauer takes on a fascinating subject yet mostly consolidates existing information without adding much to our knowledge base.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 29, 2017

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Tara Brady

Irish Times

A timely warning against big-block buildings with empty ground-floor shop units, nonetheless.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 14, 2017

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Adam Graham

Detroit News

Tyrnauer uses a ton of archival footage to tell his story, and brings it in at a brisk 92 minutes.

Rated: B

Jun 2, 2017

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Leigh Monson

Substream Magazine

For the engaged and interested, Citizen Jane is a worthy documentary about one of the twentieth century's least referenced activist struggles.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 24, 2020

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Steven Prokopy

Third Coast Review

A film like Citizen Jane feels quite timely as an illustration of common sense and the truth winning out of unbridled abuse of power

May 7, 2020

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Michael J. Casey

Boulder Weekly

I'm with her.

Aug 12, 2019

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david f

A solid documentary about the brilliant urban planning author.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Audience Member

A bio-pic chronicling Jacob's fight against Robert Moses, NYC Master Builder, to save Greenwich Village from being turned into a highway. Sadly the film sticks very narrowly to its direct subject. As an Author and land use and design advocate, Jacobs ideas still resonate today. The makers would do well to incorporate some of the humanizing aspects of Jacobs' writings to their film. Regardless of its death grasp on the greecian drama portrayed in this documentary, and lack of a satisfactorily overhead view of the importance of Jacobs' work, the film compellingly depicts early events that influenced Jacobs and serves as a case study for what a successful, neighborhood based grassroots campaign looks like.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/23/23

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Audience Member

Yes, a totally typical liberal film. No reason to see yet another.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

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Audience Member

A fascinating look into the life of Jane Jacobs a New York woman who was brave & committed enough to take on the Building Moguls & Planners of NYC. Her argument was simple but effective cities should be made for people not productivity. She fought so hard in clearly a man's era. She halted the production of developments that if went ahead would destroy the DNA of NYC. Truly a testament that one can make a difference, a stirring & sensational documentary.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

This material deserves a more exciting treatment than the quaint, dry, regimented treatment it gets here. This makes all its points after about 45 minutes, then repeats itself with dry line-readings and not much visual flare despite all the archival footage.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

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Audience Member

Bits and bobs. Yet, see it at your local indie theatre. The audience reactions through the film extends it beyond the proverbial fourth wall.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/05/23

Full Review

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Matt Tyrnauer

Director

Thomas Campanella

Self

Vincent D'Onofrio

Robert Moses

Marisa Tomei

Jane Jacobs

Mindy Fullilove

Self

Michael Sorkin

Self

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Citizen Jane: Battle for the City: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Arguably no one did more to shape understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and author of "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Here, she fights against the ruthless redevelopment projects of urban planner Robert Moses.

Director: Matt Tyrnauer
Producer: Matt Tyrnauer, Robert Hammond, Corey Reeser, Jessica Van Garsse
Distributor: IFC Films
Production Co: Altimeter Films
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 21, 2017, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 12, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA): $305.0K
Runtime: 1h 32m

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