Peaceful Warrior
DEJ Productions | Release Date: June 2, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
11
Negative:
9
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri Linden
Strong performances by Scott Mechlowicz as Millman and Nick Nolte as the mysterious mechanic who changes his life ground the film in effective drama. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The result is something close to a textbook example of how NOT to visualize spiritual principles of the "be here now" variety. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Sometimes in an imperfect movie there is consolation simply in regarding the actors. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyScott Brown
In the ranks of improbable gymnastics coaches, Nick Nolte falls just below the cartoon version of Mr. T. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Cult-favorite director Victor Salva ("Jeepers Creepers" I & II) is a competent visual storyteller and the film believes in itself so strongly (and with such a straight face) that it's hard not to halfway enjoy it. Read full review
50
VarietyRobert Koehler
Mere recitation of homilies for better living -- which is what Nick Nolte's gas station guru imparts to a struggling young gymnast -- and a half-baked account of the athlete's comeback are no substitutes for a complete movie. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
The film is better than it has any right to be, considering the prosaic source. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
You might be better off reading the book and imagining Nolte as Socrates. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Watchable exercise in Zen hokum. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Above all, there's Nolte, who hovers over the whole production like some sapient force of nature. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephen Hunter
All this stuff is probably right. It's just that the director, Victor Salva, underscores his points with thunderous obviousness and manipulates us through ham-handed plot gambits. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
The "What The Bleep Do We Know?" crowd may well receive the film's wisdom like communion, but the rest of us are free to gag when Salva tries to jam it down our throats. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
You'd have to be either an avid New Ager or willing to see Nick Nolte in absolutely anything to get fully onboard for this visually overexcited tale of salvation-by-gas-station-guru. Read full review
40
The New York TimesNathan Lee
For all its manifest corniness, this is an achingly sincere and supremely unembarrassed effort to transform an audience for the good. Its heart is very much in the right place - a place that movies all but ignore - but its mind is a mush. Read full review
38
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The cast is quite good. But Peaceful Warrior, which is basically "The Karate Kid" with a bigger kid and a bigger mentor, represents a journey of predictability, rather than a destination worth the trouble. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The film's biggest miracle is the straight face Nick Nolte maintains in his role as Socrates. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
The intriguing thing about The Peaceful Warrior is that nothing else in the movie feels haphazard. Read full review
38
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
By the end of the film's two-hour stream of Be-Here-Now-isms, anyone left in the audience will be wanting to yell, "Put a sock in it!" to old Soc. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele
The sage-elder/wayward-charge saga Peaceful Warrior aims for inspirational highs but mostly feels like a self-help book read aloud by actors. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
This woozily uplifting saga is big on homilies and deficient in just about everything else. Read full review
25
New York PostKyle Smith
Tries to be "The Karate Kid" of gymnastics. It looks more like "The Karate Kid" as imagined by Details magazine. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Peaceful Warrior fails pitifully at being transcendent. This New Age movie about living in the moment gets you looking at your watch and squirming in your seat. Read full review
25
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
One of those blessedly rare films based on a self-help book, is remarkable in one sense: It prevents "The Lake House" and its magical mailbox from being the most ridiculous concept on screen this summer. Read full review
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