The Flowers of War
Row 1 Entertainment | Release Date: December 21, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
46
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondDec 29, 2011
Ultimately an inspiring, stirring and unforgettable human drama in the face of a horrifying war. It is highly recommended. Read full review
75
MovielineAlison WillmoreJan 19, 2012
Bale's presence in the film is a kind of misdirect, a calculated element intended to better its international commercial prospects -- his character makes a clumsily predictable journey from cynical drunken expat to hero willing to sacrifice a chance to escape the country in order to care for the children who've ended up in his charge. Read full review
75
ObserverRex ReedJan 17, 2012
It's a special film of sacrifice, redemption and hope in the shadow of a holocaust that packs an emotional wallop from which there is no escape. I can't get it out of my thoughts, and I recommend it highly. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJan 19, 2012
Bale admirably shoulders the burden of Western identification figure, but the heart of the story is the ongoing tension between the schoolgirls and the hookers, who see in each other aspects of womanhood that are out of their respective reach. Read full review
70
VarietyJustin ChangDec 20, 2011
Scene by scene, The Flowers of War is an erratic and ungainly piece of storytelling, full of melodramatic twists and grotesque visual excesses (a bullet pierces first a stained-glass window and then a girl's neck), which are nonetheless delivered with startling conviction. Read full review
63
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottFeb 10, 2012
That's not to say it's a bad film, necessarily. It's just not as good as it could have -- and should have -- been. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJan 19, 2012
The Flowers of War is the latest movie focused on the Nanking atrocities. Lu Chuan's "City of Life and Death'' was released in the United States last year and presented a far greater, grimmer, and more punishing re-creation of the sacking. Read full review
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