Name : Peter Rainer / Alias : Christian Science Monitor
A classic example of a documentary that discovers its subject in the process of its making.

Name : Andrew O'Hehir / Alias : Salon.com
If John Steinbeck were writing in the second decade of the 21st century, "The Overnighters" is precisely the story he'd want to tell.

Name : Justin Chang / Alias : Variety
[A] tough-minded, admirably unresolved film .

Name : J. R. Jones / Alias : Chicago Reader
The movie might seem like just another liberal do-gooder profile, yet a shocker ending throws new and disturbing light on the situation, amplifying the Christian themes at the heart of the story.

Name : Stephanie Merry / Alias : Washington Post
"The Overnighters" is commendable for many reasons, not the least of which is the way it allows complex issues to remain complex. There is a clear conflict between the pastor and the town, but there's no good vs. evil.

Name : Peter Keough / Alias : Boston Globe
Through patience, skill, discretion, and trust, Jesse Moss has taken a seemingly small town story and turned it into both a microcosm of today's most urgent issues and a portrait of a single suffering soul.

Name : Lisa Kennedy / Alias : Denver Post
Moss uses images of drill towers or blistering flame as visual metaphors for other things transpiring on screen: the fracturing of a family, the heated fury that comes with a sense of betrayal.

Name : David Rooney / Alias : Hollywood Reporter
A scenario with present-day echoes of "The Grapes of Wrath" yields perceptive insights into the way we view outsiders.

Name : Colin Covert / Alias : Minneapolis Star Tribune
The film features stunning third-act revelations that compel viewers to rethink its characters' actions and motivations.

Name : Jeannette Catsoulis / Alias : New York Times
Composed of multiple layers - more than one of which might bring tears to your eyes - this shape-shifting documentary begins as one thing and ends as quite another.

Name : Peter Howell / Alias : Toronto Star
A sobering must-see, The Overnighters speaks to the eternal dilemma of doing the right thing in a community beset by suspicion and fear.

Name : Michael Phillips / Alias : Chicago Tribune
So much of "The Overnighters" tells all sorts of truths, and Moss earned the trust of his subjects, whatever they might think of the result.

Name : Trevor Johnston / Alias : Time Out
An urgent portrait of compassion under fire.

Name : David Lewis / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
Moss was basically a one-man production crew, which explains how he was able to film such intimate, painful conversations. His work is haunting - one of the best documentaries of the year.

Name : A.A. Dowd / Alias : AV Club
Moss uncovers something greater than a vision of a divided community; he's made a drama as prickly and surprising as any fictional character study.

Name : Leah Greenblatt / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Filmmaker Jesse Moss frames his shots beautifully; the landscapes look like Andrew Wyeth paintings.

Name : Tom Long / Alias : Detroit News
It develops into a study of obsession, hypocrisy, righteousness and self-doubt, questioning motive and then gob-smacking the audience with the wholly unexpected.

Name : Amy Nicholson / Alias : L.A. Weekly
The Overnighters sounds like the sort of dry news blurb you'd skim over in the Sunday paper, but it unfolds into an epic tragedy.

Name : Sheri Linden / Alias : Los Angeles Times
It's the rare documentary in which truly unpredictable events unfold and no assumption is safe.

Name : Bruce Westbrook / Alias : Houston Chronicle
The cast steps up, embracing the chance to exercise acting chops normally limited to live theater. Most do so resoundingly, but two stand out: Robin Wright Penn and Jason Isaacs.

Name : Jack Mathews / Alias : New York Daily News
A fascinating series of vignettes.

Name : Ty Burr / Alias : Boston Globe
Not all of Nine Lives clicks, but at its best it finds an inarticulate sisterly solace that makes you want to see what this director could do with one life per film.

Name : Roger Ebert / Alias : Chicago Sun-Times
The greatest short story writers, like William Trevor and Alice Munro, can awe us; their stories are short but not small. Here Rodrigo Garcia does the same thing.

Name : Moira MacDonald / Alias : Seattle Times
As delicately and precisely constructed as a spider's web, Nine Lives is a quiet triumph.

Name : Kyle Smith / Alias : New York Post
The bad stories waste your time, and the good ones leave you unsatisfied.

Name : Scott Foundas / Alias : Variety
Though the episodic structure results in a whole not quite equal to some of its parts, pic is an unusually tender, perceptive character study buoyed by stellar performances from a who's who of talented (and many underused) actresses.

Name : Stephen Holden / Alias : New York Times
An extraordinarily rich and satisfying suite of fleeting but intense moments in the lives of nine women.

Name : Andrew Sarris / Alias : New York Observer
The cumulative effect of the rigorously controlled and purposive camera style adds up in the end to a collective portrait of womankind that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Name : David Germain / Alias : Associated Press
The stories are sketches, often without resolution, and while individual segments succeed admirably, taken together the portraits are a fitful match.

Name : Robert Denerstein / Alias : Denver Rocky Mountain News
In looking at the lives of nine very different women, Garcia often seems to be closing in on something essential, small suggestive moments that attempt to resonate with meaning. Some do. Some don't.

Name : Lisa Schwarzbaum / Alias : Entertainment Weekly
Although each character holds the spotlight only briefly, she arrives as if with a life already in progress, and it's easy to believe that she'll keep busy even after the credits roll.

Name : Michael Wilmington / Alias : Chicago Tribune
A disturbingly frank look at people and relationships in contemporary Los Angeles and a thrilling dramatic showcase for a brilliant cast.

Name : Ann Hornaday / Alias : Washington Post
The moments that Garcia has chosen to observe are unforgettable, the women - played by an ensemble of actresses at the top of their respective games - indelible.

Name : Eleanor Ringel Gillespie / Alias : Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some parts are stronger than others, but as a fleshed-out artistic vision, Nine Lives works remarkably well.

Name : Laura Sinagra / Alias : Village Voice
The short-story glimpses aim for Carver-esque pang, though the script could have used some Lorrie Moore bite.

Name : Carrie Rickey / Alias : Philadelphia Inquirer
[Garcia] leaves you thinking deeply about these people. And leaves you wanting more.

Name : Kevin Thomas / Alias : Los Angeles Times
A sophisticated, elegant-looking film shot in distinctive, wide-ranging L.A. locales, but its real terrain is the human heart, explored with compassion and respect.

Name : Terry Lawson / Alias : Detroit Free Press
Composed of nine short films, each starring some of the best female actors working, though many of them aren't working enough.

Name : Nathan Rabin / Alias : AV Club
If only every women's movie had Nine Lives' fire, intelligence, and conviction, they wouldn't have such a shaky reputation in the first place.

Name : Lisa Rose / Alias : Newark Star-Ledger
For a film centered on connection and continuity, Nine Lives is curiously erratic.

Name : Ruthe Stein / Alias : San Francisco Chronicle
It feels like real life, in nine acts.

Name : Richard Roeper / Alias : Ebert & Roeper
I thought this was a great film.

Name : James Berardinelli / Alias : ReelViews
What's the point? If I wanted to spend 12 minutes watching someone pushing a cart around a grocery store, I'd go to the local A&P, not sit in a movie theater.

Name : Roger Moore / Alias : Orlando Sentinel
Nine Lives is an elegant film of quick, tour-de-force acting turns, a simple actor's gesture that tells you more than four pages of dialogue, a movie that demands concentration but that rewards the viewer willing to pay attention.