The Devil's Own
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: March 26, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
TimeRichard Schickel
More important, we should take into account the fact that this is really quite a good movie--a character-driven (as opposed to whammy-driven) suspense drama--dark, fatalistic and, within its melodramatically stretched terms, emotionally plausible. Read full review
90
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
Mr. Pitt moves through this unexpectedly solid thriller with dazzling confidence, showing off all the star power that he usually works overtime to hide. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
In this quiet, absorbing, shades-of-gray drama, a kind of thriller meditation on the schism in Northern Ireland, we get the story of not one but two powerfully opposing heroes. Read full review
80
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
As a well-directed star vehicle with a couple of good action sequences, this is good, effective filmmaking, but I was periodically bored; when Ford and Pitt aren't lighting up the screen nothing much happens. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
That the would-be buddies are played by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt ensures enough star power to keep things moving even during the sluggish early scenes that set up their relationship. Read full review
70
VarietyTodd McCarthy
The Devil's Own is neither the best nor the worst $90 million-$100 million-area budgeted picture ever made, but it must be the one in which the cost is least evident on the screen. Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubJohn Krewson
What makes it worth the price of admission is the energetic performance Ford pulls off in the cookie-cutter role of big-city cop. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
The script, partly written by an uncredited Terry George ("Some Mother's Son," "In the Name of the Father") strains mightily for insight but never quite breaks through. Read full review
63
USA TodayMike Clark
Though Hour 2's heavy emphasis on physical and emotional confrontations stimulates dramatic momentum, this respectable superstar meeting is finally, of all things, ordinary. [26Mar1997 Pg04.D]
63
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The moral reasoning in the film is so confusing that only by completely sidestepping it can the plot work at all. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Part of the reason The Devil's Own is endurable is because, in spite of various script deficiencies, both of the stars -- Pitt and Harrison Ford -- have an undeniable screen presence. And, while star power can't save a sinking movie, it can at least keep it afloat longer. Read full review
60
EmpireIan Nathan
The emphasis on character in Rambo scribe Kevin Jarre's screenplay (aided by Vincent Patrick and David Aaron Cohen) gives the film unexpected maturity. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
Even though The Devil's Own reportedly cost close to $100 million, it comes across as a sleek, medium-grade character study occasionally punctuated by gunfire. If this is what $100 million buys these days, can $200-million movies be very far off? Read full review
60
NewsweekDavid Ansen
A topical thriller that manages to be watchable despite director Alan J. Pakula's best efforts to take all the fun out of it. Read full review
60
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
As in all fiercely realistic thrillers, the action becomes less and less credible as it speeds on. But, as with some such thrillers, we tolerate the incredible as the price of the pulse-quickening. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
An earnest, thoughtful, surprisingly well-written (given the number of writers who worked on it) drama about guilt and betrayal that features excellent performances by Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt and dares to defy the juvenile wham bam thank you ma'am aesthetics that have turned mainstream action pictures into feature-length video games. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Pitt and Ford try to dig deeper, but the script undercuts them with preachy dialogue that might as well read, "Insert stereotype here." Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The dramatic situations aren't intense or knotty enough to match the moral issues behind them, however. Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Hobbled by a schizoid desire to make a deep human drama on the one hand and a blistering IRA shoot-'em-up on the other, Alan Pakula's new movie is less a story than a plodding sequence of debates punctuated by gunfire. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
With two of the world's biggest stars in tow, the creators of The Devil's Own can be forgiven for figuring that nothing else really mattered. If you've got Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, do you really need a coherent script? Unfortunately for everyone concerned, the answer is yes. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Certainly, whatever surgery the script doctors performed, it didn't take. The limp result is a picture that is epic in intention and Lilliputian everywhere else. Read full review
40
Film ThreatJimmy Chertkow
This movie is only really interesting during the moments of physical conflict that pop up throughout the film. These few scenes are well executed and riveting as hell. Read full review
40
SalonCharles Taylor
The Devil's Own isn't the disaster its bad advance publicity might lead you to expect. But it's a disjointed, sluggish picture. Read full review
40
SlateDavid Edelstein
The film features plot turns of howling implausibility, leading up to a mechanical climax that resolves the story without forcing either of the principal characters to make the uncommercial decision to blow the other away. Read full review
20
Washington PostRita Kempley
Ford's earthy Everyman and Pitt's vengeful youth are probably more interesting than they have any right to be inside these tired macho roles. Of course, Rory and Tom could be bursting with blarney and the movie still wouldn't gather any momentum. Read full review
0
Washington PostDesson Thomson
The Devil's Own, which stars Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, is so epically awful, it's practically homeric. Read full review
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