We Are Marshall
Metascore
53 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 31
  3. Negative: 4 out of 31
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  1. Charlotte Observer
    Reviewed by: Lawrence Toppman
    88
    Filmmakers have presented an unvarnished drama about Marshall University and the people who love it, and the results are inspirational.
  2. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Jessica Reaves
    75
    Surprisingly restrained and undeniably entertaining.
  3. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    75
    Equally thrilling and wrenching, the film is an absolute must for anyone who loves sports and an eloquent explanation for those who don't understand what the fuss is about.
  4. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    75
    "Charlie's Angels" director Joseph McGinty Nichol (aka McG) shows surprising restraint with this emotionally freighted material, weighting the movie heavily towards relationships.
  5. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Wesley Morris
    75
    The actor's (McConaughey) lovable exuberance is exactly what this heartsick movie needs.
  6. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    We Are Marshall is precisely what one expects from a true sports story: it's uplifting and inspiring.
  7. Portland Oregonian
    Reviewed by: M. E. Russell
    75
    Often as not, the movie works. Here and there, it works kind of beautifully.
  8. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Chris Kaltenbach
    75
    The result is a movie that inspires without pontificating and plays on the heartstrings without pounding on them incessantly.
  9. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kevin Crust
    70
    The film is injected with a refreshing energy whenever McConaughey is on-screen, balancing some of the inherent sadness of the story.
  10. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Stephen Hunter
    70
    "Lost" star Matthew Fox pitches in with a strong performance as a coach who, by the laws of whimsy, didn't take the final flight home and had to struggle with survivor's guilt.
  11. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: William Arnold
    67
    To the movie's credit, the cast is better than average.
  12. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Carrie Rickey
    63
    McConaughey tucks into the role like a hungry man gobbling a ham sandwich.
  13. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Stephen Cole
    63
    An enjoyable time-waster, distinguished by an unexpectedly sharp comic turn by McConaughey, lots of boisterous horseplay and some stirring emotional clinches. All in all, an entirely serviceable night out for buddies looking to locate hidden feelings.
  14. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    60
    What should have been an inspirational story about fortitude and courage in the face of mind-numbing tragedy becomes a compendium of sports cliches.
  15. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Mark Bell
    60
    If you're a college football fan, a fan of sports films or just a sports aficionado with a sense of history, this film is a safe bet.
  16. L.A. Weekly
    Reviewed by: Scott Foundas
    60
    McG's Marshall lies at the nexus of Thornton Wilder and Norman Rockwell -- it's David Lynch without the irony -- and if he overdoes things a touch, there’s nothing disingenuous about it.
  17. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    60
    Full of good intentions, We Are Marshall has a game plan that's hard to fault, but as with any playbook, a scheme is only as good as how well it's executed.
  18. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    58
    We Are Marshall has little of the bone-crunchingsincerity of the recent pigskin rouser "Invincible." This one is more like Unconvincing.
  19. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    58
    It's a powerful subject, but director McG and screenwriter Jamie Linden haul out every cliché in the playbook.
  20. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Scott Tobias
    58
    It's uplifting, but shallow.
  21. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Jack Mathews
    50
    We Are Marshall is less a movie than a commemoration.
  22. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Kyle Smith
    50
    Has the kind of soulful subject matter that will strike some as profoundly emotional, but it gets a flag for roughing the tear ducts. This isn't football - it's cornball.
  23. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Ethan Alter
    50
    We can only speculate why McConaughey chose to play the role this way, but in all honesty, it's a good thing he did. His loony performance is the only surprising thing about this otherwise paint-by-numbers inspirational drama.
  24. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Rob Nelson
    50
    Even by the low standards of the young-jocks-as-good-clean-soldiers movie, there's little at stake here, unless you count the kids' hunger to win one for the Gipper.
  25. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    50
    Matthew McConaughey injects some much needed life as the oddball coach who sets out to rebuild the football squad, and David Strathairn, Ian McShane, and Robert Patrick do their best with sketchy characters and artless dialogue.
  26. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marrit Ingman
    40
    There are football movies, and then there's this 800-pound gorilla of a gridiron weepie, which should be penalized for roughing the viewer.
  27. Salon.com
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    40
    There are so many emotions in We Are Marshall that there's hardly any room for football -- and when we finally get some, even THAT'S clogged with excess feeling.
  28. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    38
    Its use of trite "Win one for the Gipper" dialogue, overbearing soaring music and conventional plot devices makes it far too formulaic to truly move us.
  29. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    30
    A movie like We Are Marshall stands or falls on its ability to make you feel the pain and loss of individuals in a place where community pride and football are one and the same. As the film, directed by McG (the "Charlie's Angels" movies) from a wooden screenplay by Jamie Linden, follows a handful of Huntington residents during the months after the accident, not one of them comes fully to life.
  30. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    25
    No go. Marshall deserved better than this misbegotten tribute.
  31. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Hartlaub
    25
    May not be a very enjoyable movie, but at least the badness is in good taste.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.2 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 101 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 56
  3. Negative: 6 out of 56
  1. LawrenceM.
    1
    Cliched and stale. Note to movie execs: it's time to relegate all tragic "based on a true story," "overcoming human misery to ultimately succeed" Disney-fied movies to Lifetime. Note #2 to movie execs: stop casting Matthew McConaughey in any sort of drama role. Actually, in any role, for that matter.… Full Review »
  2. Nazgulero
    0
    I always think, man, if an actor performs badly, it is the fault of the director, and not the actor. I truly believe that actors are victim of poor scripts and poor directing. Matthew and the other talented men and women are thrown under the wheels of a horrible screenplay, with shallow dialogue, cliched characters, and superfluous, melodramatic sequences. I feel for these people...… Full Review »
  3. EM
    9
    While this is a movie about the human spirit and overcoming profound loss. What it mostly does is demonstate the importance of creative leadership during devastingly and adverse situation. It shows this leadership during the storty in more than one character. You see this in the team members that survived who led the cause to continue the football program. And also from the University President who tirelessly works to ensure the resources needed are found. And the motivational Coach who explains that in this instance winning isn't everything. In this instance, just keeping the program alive is what the team, University and town needs. Then there was leadership from afar found in Bobbie Bowden, UWV coach at the time who honors the team on the UWV helmets and later lets the Marshall's Coach view UWV tapes to help with the "veer" offensive formation. Yes, this is a movie about leadership.… Full Review »
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