Bang the Drum Slowly
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: August 26, 1973 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
80
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 10 Critic Reviews
Positive:
9
Mixed:
1
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TimeRichard Schickel
A funny, gentle and honestly sentimental movie that is easily one of the best of the year in any category, and very possibly the best movie about sport ever made in this country. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
That the males play baseball and that sport is their work is what makes this the ultimate baseball movie; never before has a movie considered the game from the inside out. Read full review
100
The New York TimesJim Bouton
A simply marvelous cinematic experience. Read full review
80
VarietyAlex Belth
The baseball version of Brian’s Song has reduced more than a few tough guys to tears. Read full review
75
Chicago ReaderDon Druker
A genuinely compelling film about athletics—and there haven't been many—based on a story by Mark Harris and directed by John Hancock. The material is trite, but Hancock's slow-motion treatment of the experience of athletic performance is adroit and graceful. Read full review
75
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
One of the best baseball movies ever. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterAlan R. Howard
If director John Hancock's work is sometimes atmospherically colorless, he pulls scenes together that seem to be going nowhere and acquits himself most notably with the performers. Read full review
70
Time OutKate Wertheimer
Though the baseball scenes themselves are secondary and none too convincing, De Niro nails the sentimental tearjerker stuff. Read full review
67
IndieWireOliver Lyttleton
The film isn’t quiet a classic (though it is one of the better baseball movies to this day), but it’s notable as the first major indicator that De Niro was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Read full review
40
The New YorkerPauline Kael
This baseball weeper was very clumsily directed by John Hancock; everything stops dead for the dialogue scenes.
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