The film received mixed reviews from critics, earning a 56% positive rating from numerous reviews on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, . The critical consensus was that the film, though "Well intentioned and passionate, this docu-drama about the 1999 WTO protests is heavier on politics than character development". "New York Magazine" called the film "a triumph", while "Chicago Sun-Times" film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars and described it as "not quite a documentary and not quite a drama, but interesting all the same" and compared it to past political films like "Medium Cool". According to EW.com, the film "sounds like a bad TV movie: a drama based on the protests that halted the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle. Yet Stuart Townsend re-creates it all with stunning passion and skill".