The War Within
Magnolia Pictures | Release Date: September 30, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
12
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The New York TimesJanet Maslin
The War Within succeeds only as a thriller with some wartime overtones, rather than as a character study that thrills. Read full review
60
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Sometimes too pat and sometimes ragged with omissions and confusions, but it's still a fascinating look outside of that familiar world and into a harsher one. Read full review
50
New York PostKyle Smith
Chillingly realistic but deeply repellent, The War Within is a film that should not have been made. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
Despite an admirable effort to explore topical concerns, both director and actor are obviously overwhelmed by the immensity of the subject matter. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The War Within has within it a war of its own, one between docudramatic truth and familiar melodrama, however low-keyed. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleWalter Addiego
Tries too hard to be even-handed. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterRichard James Havis
Does a fairly good job of laying out the basic political motives behind Islamic terrorism. Unfortunately, as a drama, it has its narrative peak in the middle and quickly runs out of story afterward. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Shot in DV by Lisa Rinzler, Joseph Castelo's modest drama struggles for verisimilitude, but it wears clichés like concrete boots, down to the cycle-of-intolerance-and-violence message that we hear every day on NPR. Read full review
40
VarietyRobert Koehler
An honorable but failed attempt to dramatize the dynamics that propel a basically good man to become a suicide bomber, The War Within contains provocative points inside a dull package. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
Mired in noir cliché, the movie manages to be simultaneously overwrought and undercooked, with the Bambi-eyed Akhtar giving such a relentlessly inscrutable performance, one wants to poke him with a stick. Read full review
More From This Movie

61 Critic Reviews

7.7 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 71 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL