X
  • 2002
  • R
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 2002
  • R
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 51 m

Summary Based on the acclaimed short-story collection by celebrated Mississippi writer Larry Brown, Big Bad Love is a tale of Viet Nam veteran Barlow (Howard) struggling to make fiction from his past, his dreams, and the dim sound of the future bearing down on him. (IFC Films)

Directed By: Arliss Howard

Written By: Larry Brown, Jim Howard, Arliss Howard

  • 2002
  • R
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 51 m
  • 2002
  • R
  • IFC Films
  • 1 h 51 m

Big Bad Love

Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 24 Critic Reviews
49
User Score Available after 4 ratings
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Where to Watch

Summary Based on the acclaimed short-story collection by celebrated Mississippi writer Larry Brown, Big Bad Love is a tale of Viet Nam veteran Barlow (Howard) struggling to make fiction from his past, his dreams, and the dim sound of the future bearing down on him. (IFC Films)

Directed By: Arliss Howard

Written By: Larry Brown, Jim Howard, Arliss Howard

Where to Watch

Top Cast

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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 24 Critic Reviews
49
38% Positive
9 Reviews
46% Mixed
11 Reviews
17% Negative
4 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews

Critic Reviews

 View All
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 24 Critic Reviews
49
38% Positive
9 Reviews
46% Mixed
11 Reviews
17% Negative
4 Reviews

  • All Reviews
  • Positive Reviews
  • Mixed Reviews
  • Negative Reviews
80
Brave and admirable for the trust that it puts in a viewer's intuition and willingness in going along with it right through to its rewarding finish.
By Kevin Thomas FULL REVIEW
75
Too long (and it sure ain't taut), but it brims with passion.
By Steven Rea FULL REVIEW
67
It's frustrating and still oddly likable.
By Kim Morgan FULL REVIEW
50
It all comes down to whether you can tolerate Leon Barlow. I can't. Big Bad Love can, and is filled with characters who love and accept him, even though he is a full-time, gold-plated pain in the can.
By Roger Ebert FULL REVIEW
50
Beneath its stylistic and structural quirks, Big Bad Love -- is a self-indulgent celebration of self-indulgence.
By Dana Stevens FULL REVIEW
40
I don't know if Howard had fun directing, writing, and starring in this thing; but he had to have gotten more masochistic pleasure out of it than the audience does.
By David Edelstein FULL REVIEW
25
If the point of this umpteenth posttraumatic stress drama is that war is hell, even years after it's over and you're sitting in a movie theater, Big Bad Love makes it.
By Jack Mathews FULL REVIEW

User Reviews

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Details

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Production Company Big Bad Love LLC, Pieface Productions, Rocking S, Sun Moon & Stars Productions
Release Date Feb 22, 2002
Duration 1 h 51 m
Rating R
Genres
Tagline The staggering tale of one man's relentless pursuit of imperfection.
View All Details

Awards

Cannes Film Festival
• 1 Nomination

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