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Man Apart, A
New Line Cinema


3.4

based on 32 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 16 votes
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FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong graphic violence, language, drug content and sexuality

Starring Vin Diesel, Larenz Tate, Steve Eastin, Timothy Olyphant, Jacqueline Obradors, and Geno Silva

Sean Vetter (Diesel), a tough DEA agent, sets out to avenge the brutal murder of his wife in a botched hit. (New Line Cinema)

GENRE(S):	Suspense/Thriller
WRITTEN BY:	Christian Gudegast Paul Scheuring
DIRECTED BY:	F. Gary Gray
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: September 2, 2003 Video: December 31, 1969 Theatrical: April 4, 2003
RUNNING TIME:	105 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Variety Robert Koehler

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.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

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

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Effectively paced and nicely choreographed, the fundamental letdown of the ending results in a mild sense of dissatisfaction.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A paint-by-numbers vigilante movie with the usual rogue cop, murdered wife and trail of vengeance.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

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.

USA Today Mike Clark

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."

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.

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.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

While you're enduring the usual formulaic yada yada -- at least there are yuks to enjoy.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Arnold Schwarzenegger, move over: Your dramatic replacement has arrived.

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

Just another bloody cop thriller.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

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.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

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.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

A film that sometimes suggests "Traffic" remade as a brainless action thriller.

LA Weekly Ernest Hardy

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.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

The film falls just shy of both Diesel and Gray's mark.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

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.

Film Threat Kevin Carr

The problem with A Man Apart”is that there is just too much badass going on.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

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.

New York Post Megan Lehmann

Violent and unoriginal actioner.

Washington Post William Triplett

It really should be arrested for impersonating an interesting movie.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

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.

The New York Times Dave Kehr

A series of gun battles follow, none staged with quite enough verve or imagination to break through the pervasive torpor.

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.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

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.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

The film would be totally unwatchable without the very real charisma of Diesel.

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.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

It's a little early for self-parody in the career of Vin Diesel. But he's a calamitous cliché in A Man Apart.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Raises a few questions -- like just what were they thinking?

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

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.

The average user rating for this movie is 3.4 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Matt gave it a9:
underrate film from F. Gary Gray.. Tight action and suspence keep this film a cut abouve the rest

Danoman G. gave it a 9:
Great movie in it's own genre. vin diesel could be the new bruce willis.

Pat C. gave it a 2:
Nice going, Vin. You've turned yourself from an unknown scrawny worthless lout into a internationally-recognizable physically-imposing marginally-interesting lout.

Gary H. gave it a 10:
This film was fantastic, I bought it, I watched it and it was brilliant, why must we see a bunch of old farts who would not know a good film if it jumped up and bit them on the ass review movies, this explains why all the trash over budget junk gets on, for real people, I know you would love this film, the story isnt sub-standard and that rubbish about Vin moving into the whole Seagal/Van Damme genre of movie, go shut up, this film is clever and looks and feels fantastic and I loved it!!

Marc-o gave it a 7:
Again people i think some of us missed the point this was an a-c-t-i-o-n movie not shakespeare , having said that aside from the unsatisfactory ending i though story and Diesel wise this film was a bit more interesting and anyway it's nowhere near the utter lets rip off Bond with no class XXX i almost Vin for that travesty!!!

Joseph L. gave it a 0:
This movie is just bullsh.t. The character of vin is a short tempered, self-centered a..hole who wants to kill anyone at the drop of a hat. How can you feel bad about the loss of his wife, when his short temper single handily makes him responsible for killing 3 police officers during a drug bust. Ive wasted 90 minutes of my life. If I had a time machine I would not use it to stop the assassinations of Kennedy or Martin Luther King Jr. or warn people about the attacks of 911, I would travel back in time to stop myself from seeing this movie.

Saint Harry gave it a 2:
Vin is starting to enter Steven Seagal/Jean Claude Van Damme territory making garbage like this. Check his better dramatic work like "Boiler Room".

Man Apart, A New Line Cinema

Man Apart, A
New Line Cinema