| 70 |
Variety
Diesel makes a violent bid to align himself with the Clint Eastwood-Charles Bronson-Steve McQueen tradition, but he lacks the charisma, emotional strength and humor to do so.
|
| 63 |
Philadelphia Inquirer
Yes, there's a hastily added new ending - an ending that doesn't make sense when you think about it. Not that it's worth the effort
|
| 63 |
ReelViews
Effectively paced and nicely choreographed, the fundamental letdown of the ending results in a mild sense of dissatisfaction.
|
| 50 |
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
A paint-by-numbers vigilante movie with the usual rogue cop, murdered wife and trail of vengeance.
|
| 50 |
Boston Globe
Directed by F. Gary Gray and written by Christian Gudegast and Paul T. Scheuring, the movie isn't even worthy of former NFL linebacker turned straight-to-video action figure Brian Bosworth.
|
| 50 |
USA Today
It's all fast and furious up to its draggy finale, and yes, it could spark a sequel. Prepare yourself for coming dread in 18 months: "A Man Together."
|
| 50 |
Film Threat
Clint Morris
Diesel is good in the movie. He gets to dance, cry, romanticise…things we’ve rarely see him do in other movies. There are actually hints of a real actor there.
|
| 50 |
Salon.com
Jeff Stark
There's not a single moment when you wonder what might happen next or when the spectacle simply leaps off the screen. You've seen it all before.
|
| 50 |
Washington Post
While you're enduring the usual formulaic yada yada -- at least there are yuks to enjoy.
|
| 50 |
Charlotte Observer
Arnold Schwarzenegger, move over: Your dramatic replacement has arrived.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Reader
Staff (not credited)
The script for this action vehicle is like something you'd find under the cushions of Steven Seagal's couch, but Diesel, to his credit, digs into his role as if it were Hamlet.
|
| 50 |
San Francisco Chronicle
Just another bloody cop thriller.
|
| 50 |
Baltimore Sun
Standard-bore action stuff, in which a macho stud superstar blows away lots of bad guys while struggling to make the world a better place.
|
| 50 |
Los Angeles Times
Though it wasn't planned this way, it's an amusing exercise to view A Man Apart as an allegory for the war in Iraq.
|
| 50 |
Chicago Sun-Times
The screenplay tries to paper over too many story elements that needed a lot more thought. This movie has been filmed and released, but it has not been finished.
|
| 40 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
A film that sometimes suggests "Traffic" remade as a brainless action thriller.
|
| 40 |
LA Weekly
A Man Apart isn't awful, but it is almost reflexively rote, evoking countless other outlaw-cop films that are smarter, tighter and more fun.
|
| 40 |
Austin Chronicle
The film falls just shy of both Diesel and Gray's mark.
|
| 40 |
TV Guide
The film works best when it's sticking to the guns and poses conventions of macho crime pictures. When it reaches for emotional resonance, the results range from unconvincing to ludicrous.
|
| 40 |
Film Threat
Kevin Carr
The problem with A Man Apart”is that there is just too much badass going on.
|
| 38 |
Chicago Tribune
Sometimes, you can use a smaller devil to catch the Devil, the movie suggests. But in this case, the entire movie goes to hell in record time.
|
| 38 |
New York Post
Violent and unoriginal actioner.
|
| 30 |
Washington Post
William Triplett
It really should be arrested for impersonating an interesting movie.
|
| 30 |
Dallas Observer
Standard revenge shenanigans ensue, with more boo-hoo numbers from Vin, who ain't up to it -- he hasn't been this lame since, uh, ever.
|
| 30 |
The New York Times
A series of gun battles follow, none staged with quite enough verve or imagination to break through the pervasive torpor.
|
| 30 |
Village Voice
Justine Elias
As limited as Diesel's movie persona may be, the actor has been notable for projecting a certain gentleness and warmth. That, along with logic and any sense of urgency, gets lost here amid the longueurs of a tired vengeance plot.
|
| 25 |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
There's a huge subplot that makes absolutely no sense at all and, in the end, the only thing the movie has going for it is Diesel's Neanderthal charm.
|
| 25 |
New York Daily News
The film would be totally unwatchable without the very real charisma of Diesel.
|
| 25 |
Entertainment Weekly
Scott Brown
Sour, sadistic, and stale from sitting on the shelf since the pre-''XXX'' era -- an era I'm starting to miss.
|
| 25 |
Rolling Stone
It's a little early for self-parody in the career of Vin Diesel. But he's a calamitous cliché in A Man Apart.
|
| 25 |
Miami Herald
Raises a few questions -- like just what were they thinking?
|
| 25 |
Christian Science Monitor
It will be interesting to see whether audiences embrace Mr. Diesel's barely controlled vigilante as warmly as they embraced Clint Eastwood's swaggering "Dirty Harry" and Charles Bronson's nasty "Death Wish" characters a few decades ago.
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