# The “wrong-headed” 1977 review Roger Ebert actually apologised for 30 years later

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-wrong-headed-1977-review-roger-ebert-actually-apologised-for-30-years-later/
- Published: 2026-10-24T17:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-24T18:24:45+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/1977-review-roger-ebert-apologised-for-30-years-later/
- Topics: Music

## Key points

- Ebert apologised for his 1977 review of *Killer of Sheep*.
- He later saw its quiet style as a larger statement.
- The film depicts life shaped by poverty and limited choices.

## Summary

Roger Ebert revisited his 1977 review of Charles Burnett’s *Killer of Sheep* and apologised for dismissing the film as boring. Three decades later, he recognised that its quiet, uneventful style made a larger statement about poverty, constrained choices and the dignity of its characters.

Burnett made the low-budget film with mainly non-professional actors. Set in Watts, it follows a slaughterhouse worker and his family through daily routines rather than a conventional plot. Ebert later called his original criticism “so wrong-headed”, saying the film’s stillness conveyed sadness and loss.

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