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100It moves so confidently and brightly that it's ticklish as well as chilling - and, in its own dark way, enthralling.
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83A good satire that had the untimely bad luck to be about a U.S. soldier who will do anything it takes to party, except fight for the right.
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80Tightly plotted and well-acted, the film litters its brisk run time with darkly funny and haunting setpieces.
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80Like "Fight Club," it's a brilliantly made film that will be despised for the right and wrong reasons; if you don't see the humor in it any time during the first half-hour, leave. If you stay, you've passed the test--sit back and enjoy one of the year's finest films.
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78You’ve heard of guerrilla warfare? Buffalo Soldiers is all about guerilla capitalism.
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75Adapting Robert O'Connor's novel, director Gregor Jordan slaps us with keen wit and purpose.
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75The film is filled with spot-on performances, by Harris, Glenn, Phoenix, and by Paquin, who has grown up after her debut in "The Piano" to become one of the most gifted actresses of her generation--particularly in tricky, emotion-straddling roles like this one.
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75A well-told story. It pits a compelling central character against a formidable adversary in an intriguing setting while keeping you riveted to the cat-and-mouse strategizing, surprise turns and a few moments of actual warmth.
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75At its best it's as refreshing as it is daring. Superbly acted.
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75Crafty, cutting movie.
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75It's an enjoyable and occasionally thought-provoking motion picture whose viewership should not be diminished by the unfortunate and inaccurate "anti-American" label.
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75Imperfect, but certainly provocative.
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70The script’s extremely well written, the direction flawless, and the performances -- especially by the fantastic Joaquin Phoenix, gobsmacking.
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67In some ways it suffers from the same unredemptive afflictions as Elwood and his gang: It's a bit flaccid and flabby and lumbers gracelessly along without self awareness or humanity.
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63When it was first shown at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival just days before Sept. 11, this movie seemed darkly, grimly comic. Today, though, it often just seems grim.
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63Phoenix gives an electric performance as amoral Army supply clerk Ray Elwood.
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63A tart, funny, moderately over-the-top hijinks-and-snafus yarn.
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63It's not the dark comedy it wants to be - that would be "M*A*S*H" with a more modern setting and more gruesome consequences - but it's worth a look.
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60The brouhaha aside, this chronicle of SNAFUs foretold doesn't have much new to say but says it with biting precision, and Phoenix's sharp, sneakily sympathetic performance is a pleasure to watch.
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60A pleasingly disreputable trifle.
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60In its post-Vietnam cynicism, Buffalo Soldiers feels almost avant-garde.
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60The highest accomplishment of Buffalo Soldiers is its wise invocation of that weirdest of all precincts, the post, and the odd culture it spawns.
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60The absence of any moral center makes this a bitter pill.
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50Though the film, adapted from a novel by Robert O'Connor, is obviously trying to reference "Catch-22," it is far too dark and violent to be funny.
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50Ultimately, it's a cold, caustic film that doesn't take a strong point of view but seems to offer up its numerous set pieces.
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50The pleasures of Buffalo Soldiers mainly come early on, before the film becomes a sloppy mixture of tones and story lines. Afterward, you're left mainly puzzled and looking for a way to wash a bitter aftertaste out of your mouth.
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50As social satire, though, the movie is a nonstarter, completely lacking in the zany lunacy of "M*A*S*H" and "Dr. Strangelove," or the whacked savagery of "Catch-22."
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50Had the young Jack Nicholson played such a character during the height of the Vietnam War, it would have been easy to go along for the ride. But skilled as Phoenix is at pulling off the individual scenes of Elwood's shenanigans, the actor doesn't come across as embodying rebellion to the marrow of his bones, which renders his scams arbitrary and disagreeably irresponsible.
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50I suspect that Buffalo Soldiers is not about the Army at all. Without much ado, it could have been turned into “Buffalo Management Consultants” or “Buffalo Movie Executives.” Any clenched community would suffice. [8 August 2003, p. 84]
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40This is low-grade satire. The shocks to the system in Buffalo Soldiers are nothing more than cheap thrills.
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40Sloppy when it should be incisive, indulgent when it should be astringent, and ultimately unsure of what it is mocking and in what spirit.
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38For all the controversy surrounding Buffalo Soldiers, you'd think the film would at least be interesting.
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30Even Phoenix, an actor who can make an incestuous-minded Roman emperor seem sensitive, can't smooth over political nihilism this unsavory.
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30Suffers from melodramatic overkill.
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30The film's intent was presumably satirical in the vein of "Catch-22" or "M*A*S*H," but the satire is so weak, the action so devoid of comic perspective, that we are left with a naked gaggle of ugly episodes.
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User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 12
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Mixed: 0 out of 12
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Negative: 2 out of 12
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BombshellNukealot10
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matta.6Dramatically, it doesn't work. On the comedy side of things, it was pretty freaking genius. A solid outing for Joaquin Phoenix.