For Greater Glory
ARC Entertainment (II) | Release Date: June 1, 2012 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
35
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
7
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertMay 30, 2012
In its use of locations and sets, it's an impressive achievement by director Dean Wright, whose credits include some of the effects on the "Lord of the Rings" films. If it had not hewed so singlemindedly to the Catholic view and included all religions under the banner of religious liberty, I believe it would have been more effective. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen HoldenMay 31, 2012
Even at 143 minutes, For Greater Glory cannot satisfyingly fill out the stories of a half-dozen secondary characters, and there are frustrating gaps in the biographies of Gorostieta and José. The jamming together of so much history and melodrama makes for a handsome movie that is only rarely gripping. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMay 31, 2012
The actor (Garcia), whose banked anger has been a secret weapon since "The Untouchables" 25 years ago, paints a fascinating portrait of a man moved by fate. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterFrank ScheckMay 31, 2012
The sort of lumbering epic drama that went out of fashion by the late 1960s, For Greater Glory is mainly notable for shedding light on a little-known historical conflict, namely the Cristero War that took place in 1920s Mexico. Read full review
50
VarietyJoe LeydonMay 31, 2012
Despite enough good intentions to pave a four-lane highway, the ardently sincere but dramatically unfocused For Greater Glory plays like a multipart miniseries that has been hacked down to feature length. Read full review
50
MovielineMichelle OrangeMay 31, 2012
There's enough froth along the way to keep the memory of Will Ferrell's recent "Casa Di Me Padre" close at hand. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelMay 31, 2012
The result is a pious mess of a movie that falls short both as history and as storytelling. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleMay 31, 2012
The film is ultimately a stodgy, overblown and repetitive slog. Read full review
38
New York PostLou LumenickJun 1, 2012
The sometimes painfully sincere and slow-moving For Greater Glory clearly aspires to be inspirational, but history won't cooperate. The Cristeros triumphed not because of their faith, but because the United States exerted diplomatic pressure to protect its oil interests in Mexico. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisMay 31, 2012
Some bad movies can make you feel awful for the people who made them and worse for the audience that shows up. The actors, the script, the camera: There's nowhere good they can go. For Greater Glory is that kind of bad movie: a total embarrassment. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinMay 30, 2012
With its shameless melodrama, ghoulish violence, and scenes of Christians being slaughtered en masse in holy places for the crime of publicly being Christians, the religious drama For Greater Glory feels an awful lot like evangelical Tribulation dramas such as "Left Behind: The Movie" and "The Omega Code." Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenMay 31, 2012
Only Ruben Blades as President Calles and Bruce Greenwood as American Ambassador Dwight Morrow get out of this film with their acting dignity intact. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMay 31, 2012
If For Greater Glory were a person, it would be wearing two different socks. It is a scattered mess, as earnest as a folk song, but like a folk song that goes on for two hours and 23 minutes. Not only does it never justify its epic length, it gets even the small things wrong. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineAndrew SchenkerMay 27, 2012
The film is awash in blandly brown-toned cinematography, action scenes more violent than rousing, and a whole host of bathetic subplots. Read full review
20
Boxoffice MagazineMark OlsenJun 4, 2012
The film's length and muddled message will likely keep it from reaching much of an audience, even within the presumed Latino faith-based target. Read full review
20
Village VoiceNick PinkertonMay 29, 2012
It is plodding, lazily filmed, gassy with James Horner's score, and pads its runtime only by way of tolling repetition. Read full review
20
Time OutSam AdamsMay 29, 2012
Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, but let's not get carried away here. Read full review
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