Shock and Awe
| Release Date: July 13, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
9
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJan 3, 2019
At times Shock and Awe is reminiscent of journalistic procedurals from “President’s Men” to “Spotlight” to “The Post,” and it gets the nitty-gritty details of an early 2000s newsroom just right. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJul 12, 2018
Shock and Awe is no “All the President’s Men,” but it does present a nice balance to the earlier film’s ultimately rosy picture. Read full review
63
RogerEbert.comGodfrey CheshireJul 13, 2018
Shock and Awe reminds us all of this, and of the American media’s shameful complicity in fomenting an unjustified and vastly destructive war. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreJul 9, 2018
If nothing else, the timely Shock and Awe is a blunt reminder of how important a skeptical press is in countering a popular government — or even an unpopular one — that is hellbent on lying, misleading, on doing something for nefarious reasons, and has all of cable news, talk radio and a truth-averse internet backing it up. Read full review
60
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergJul 12, 2018
At a time when the current president routinely dismisses the accuracy of reporting, Shock and Awe feels more timely than it might have. It also captures an aspect of journalism not often portrayed: the fear of being wrong when the conclusions of your reporting break from those of your competitors. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinApr 26, 2018
If this swift, entertaining film, set during the post-9/11 run-up to the Iraq war, brashly leans left, it has history on its side as well as, it seems, the interests of our soldiers. Read full review
50
Original-CinLiam LaceyAug 2, 2018
Reiner’s attempt to create Spotlight-like docudrama of newsroom courage and stoke fresh outrage about government lies is undermined by clunky old-fashioned filmmaking and Joey Harstone’s exposition-clotted script. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJul 13, 2018
It’s a rote piece of work that, oddly, also feels dated even at a time when the press and the White House have rarely been more at odds. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaJul 12, 2018
The problem isn’t Reiner taking dramatic liberties with the facts, it’s that his toolbox for doing so hasn’t changed since the mid-’90s. Read full review
50
Screen DailyWendy IdeApr 26, 2018
Densely factual and sometimes a little unweildy, this is a film in which good intentions outweigh style and execution. Read full review
50
VarietyJessica KiangApr 26, 2018
The shock feels less than shocking and the awe less than awesome in Rob Reiner’s righteously motivated but clunkily executed exposé of media manipulation in the run-up to the Iraq War. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah YoungApr 26, 2018
The message tends to melt into a paint-by-numbers screenplay that pushes too many genre buttons to be thoroughly exciting. Read full review
40
Rolling StoneDavid FearJul 15, 2018
But at its best, Shock and Awe still feels like it strains to be Spotlight-lite and comes up lacking. The title feels like a misnomer. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineDerek SmithJul 9, 2018
Rob Reiner's film rests on broad, sweeping proclamations about the importance of factual reporting. Read full review
37
Washington PostAnn HornadayJul 10, 2018
The director tries to infuse Shock and Awe with the taut procedural drama of “All the President’s Men,” “Spotlight” or “The Post.” But he winds up demonstrating just how difficult it is to make shoe-leather journalism entertaining, much less artful. Read full review
35
Film Journal InternationalSimi HorwitzJul 11, 2018
a plodding film with ill-placed, klutzy exposition and credibility-defying and/or colorless characters that are spokespersons for various predictable viewpoints. Read full review
30
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJul 12, 2018
Journalists deserve to be heralded — just not in this holier-than-thou cinematic cri de coeur. So, on behalf of journalists everywhere, I have to tell Mr. Reiner thanks, but no thanks. Read full review
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorJul 26, 2018
This sadly derivative film has one too many screenings of "All the President’s Men" written all over it. Read full review
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