Advanced Search Beta »
Basic Search Fields
Men of Honor
Metascore
56 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 30 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 30
  3. Negative: 2 out of 30
view
per page
  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    88
    In-depth performances by De Niro and Gooding Jr. provide the oxygen for this extremely shipshape biopic.
  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    80
    Passes muster as an old-style biopic with its heart in the right place. There won't be a dry eye in the house.
    All this critic's reviews
  3. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    It isn't about thrills and explosions, but about tenacity, and most of it takes place within our own imaginations.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    75
    Inspirational biographical movie that really works.
  5. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    75
    One of the more uplifting films of the season.
  6. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Jay Carr
    75
    Just what Gooding needed to restart his stalled career.
  7. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: F. X. Feeney
    70
    The main body of the film earns comparison with the military parables of John Ford, particularly "The Long Gray Line" and "The Wings of Eagles."
  8. Dallas Observer
    Reviewed by: Andy Klein
    70
    If you don't view it too analytically, Men of Honor provides almost more uplift than a body can handle.
  9. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    67
    Educational and upstanding, a little overacted and more than a little overdramatized. But it's honorable.
  10. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Desmond Ryan
    63
    A stalwart military inspirational.
  11. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    63
    Flaws and all, Men of Honor ultimately does its duty. It honors the feats of an incredible man.
  12. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    63
    Goes to such great lengths to show the greatness of its Navy diver hero that it neglects to add much depth to his character - or the story.
  13. Mr. Showbiz
    Reviewed by: Larry Terenzi
    60
    Sunk by its own melodramatic falseness, and it stands as a well-meaning yet lacking tribute to a courageous man.
  14. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Andrew O'Hehir
    60
    In its quest to create "wholesome" entertainment, the movie industry is furiously turning back the clock four decades or so, to the days when men were men, girls were cute but knew their place and pencil-necked Poindexters stayed out of your damn face.
  15. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Thomas
    60
    Leaves you wanting to know more, and that's not a bad thing.
  16. Time
    Reviewed by: Richard Schickel
    60
    There's something refreshing about its utterly unembarrassed embrace of the familiar. The director, George Tillman Jr., either doesn't notice or doesn't give a hoot about the way Scott Marshall Smith's script piles up cliches.
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy/ David Stratton
    60
    Those in search of positive role models and films detailing little-known aspects of black and military history, or stressing the value of tenacity and hard work, pic has something to offer.
  18. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Lisa Alspector
    60
    Engagingly corny drama.
  19. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    50
    Gooding and De Niro bring their characters to vivid life despite the unsubtle screenplay and hyperactive music score.
  20. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    50
    In an effort to turn Brashear's life into a larger-than-life sermon, Men of Honor almost manages to make it all feel like an overbearing crock.
  21. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    50
    Gooding can't will this well-meaning film into life.
  22. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    50
    It's hard not to like a movie like Men of Honor, but it's entirely possible.
  23. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: Shawn Levy
    50
    Leaves you exhausted and even bored.
  24. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Dana Stevens
    50
    Until its unbearably hokey ending, acquits itself reasonably well.
  25. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    50
    Storytelling like this weighs heavier than a standard diving suit, and it's really up to you, if you're ready to take the plunge.
  26. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Sean Axmaker
    42
    Loses focus of whom the film is honoring.
  27. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Steve Simels
    40
    By the film's big finale, the whole thing has begun to feel distinctly ridiculous.
  28. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marc Savlov
    40
    Strives to be an inspirational depth charge, but its power is consistently waylaid by some genuinely hokey dialogue and situations.
  29. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    30
    The filmmakers at once coarsen and dilute a fascinating life into a lumpy puddle of punishing inspirational hokum.
  30. Film.com
    Reviewed by: Sean Means
    20
    A bad movie about a great man.
prev next
Page:
  • 1