- Manohla Dargis, The New York Times
“Formally audacious…a jaw-dropper”
- Brent Lang, Variety
``Stefan Forbes’ gripping new documentary details a tense standoff between police and four young African American men at a sporting goods store in Brooklyn, N.Y. Though set in 1973, the issues that Forbes’ film probes, ones of racism, police brutality and gun violence, remain fiercely urgent. Though Forbes conceived of the documentary years ago, it took on an added resonance in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and the wave of social activism that gripped the country in the summer of 2020.``
Thom Powers
“Revelatory”- NPR Pick Of The Week
- Jake Coyle, Associated Press
``When there are so many fictional, burly varieties of heroes so regularly on movie screens, it’s jarring to see that the genuine article can be a humble, gaunt former traffic cop who believed in the power of talking. Harvey Schlossberg, who had a doctorate in psychology, is one of the faces of Stefan Forbes’ gripping and illuminating documentary “Hold Your Fire,” which chronicles a 1973 robbery of a Brooklyn sporting good store that turned into a hostage standoff that lasted 47 hours with throngs of observers and protesters huddled nearby beneath the elevated subway. The scene is classically New York, with masses of police on the brink of a siege and a city simmering with tension and anger.``
- Jordan Hoffman, A.V. Club
``Nuanced...remarkable and frank…Everyone survived the encounter after that first shootout (though many suffered grave psychological scarring), and some of the defendants have grown to do substantial work in the restorative justice movement after their extremely lengthy prison sentences...Also fascinating is the moral center of the movie, Dr. Schlossberg. Forbes’ film is a fine tribute to him, and a fascinating glimpse at a different, but not distant, past.``
- Radheyan Simonpillai, The Guardian
“Compelling…left knots in my stomach...the ending is miraculous…the strength in Forbes film is how it embraces the conflict, pitting the perspectives of the cops, witnesses and prime suspects against each other, no matter how diametrically opposed their version of events may be. Sometimes the conflict is there in the individual voices...His documentary also holds space for the trauma police endure and the pressure violent patriarchal ideas about masculinity puts on them. You can feel the cops grappling with that as they speak with Forbes, whose interview style suggests he holds Schlossberg’s ideas about deep and empathetic listening close to heart.``
- Eric Adams, Mayor of New York City
“This film is so timely and important as our city seeks to end the river of violence that threatens us all...As a Black man who joined the NYPD to bring change from within, this film inspires me.It is a lesson in how to resolve conflict by talking to each other and by understanding each other. And as we grapple with racial injustice, police reform, and tackling the violence on our streets, this film is so important to our understanding of how we move forward together.”
- Mark Feeney, The Boston Globe
``Did you ever see Dog Day Afternoon? That 1975 Academy-Award-winning movie is extremely good. In its very different way, Hold Your Fire is extremely good, too. Stefan Forbes’ compelling and revelatory documentary is remarkable for its historical significance...Forbes has assembled a wealth of material…all the real-time archival reporting means he doesn’t have to use a voice-over, which adds to the sense of immediacy. The wealthiest part of that wealth are the talking head interviews…Forbes does something daring with the interviews. He will juxtapose comments that are contradictory, not necessarily in fact but in interpretation or emphasis. This creates a kind of stereo effect that enlarges the film. It’s indicative of the filmmaker’s fundamental sense of fairness. Clearly, his heart is with Schlossberg. But he lets people he just as clearly disagrees with have their say.``
- John Anderson, Wall St. Journal
``Journalism has been called literature in a hurry; documentary-making often seems like journalism in very slow motion. But what matters, ultimately, is the late edition: It may have taken nearly 50 years for the story of “Hold Your Fire” to hit the screen, but it feels as immediate as yesterday... “A bona-fide thriller...With a radical-jazz fanfare of kinetic archival imagery, “Hold Your Fire” places the viewer immediately in a crossfire - not just of bullets, but of rhetoric, worldviews, hasty conclusions, policing-while-angry and the near-tribal disposition of virtually all the gun-wielding participants in what was a two-day siege and a racial calamity. That the crime in question introduced the concept of hostage negotiations as a tactic of the NYPD is something of a silver lining. But the clouds are dark, and hang.``
- Joshua Brunsting, Criterion
“The longest hostage siege in the history of New York City is told with profound texture in this incredible, unshakeable new documentary.”
- Allan Hunter, ScreenDaily.com
“Hold Your Fire has all the ingredients of a Sidney Lumet film…as tense as any thriller from that period, the involving human stories and lasting impact of the events makes for an absorbing, gripping film with theatrical potential.”
- Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
“Fast-paced, suspenseful real-life thriller featuring an array of fascinating characters…compelling...The myriad racial, social and justice issues inherent in the story are explored at length, but never in overly didactic fashion. By the time the film ends and the fates of the various figures are revealed, you’re struck not only by the compelling narrative but also by the complex humanity of everyone involved.``
- Tambay Obenson, IndieWire
“This efficient documentary serves as a case study of post-civil rights era relations between majority-white police forces and the Black American neighborhoods they patrolled. The director operates from a place of nonjudgmental curiosity by placing a sociological framework around a personal and criminal melodrama. The result is a searing look into a little-known moment in history with profound repercussions for how we understand policing today.” Grade: A
- Amy Taubin, ARTForum - Best Films of 2021
“Terrific…brilliantly researched and constructed...Forbes tells the story from multiple points of view, including that of the store owner, who as remarkably humane and resourceful as Schlossberg.”