Walking with the Enemy
Liberty Studios | Release Date: April 25, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 15 Critic Reviews
Positive:
2
Mixed:
11
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
ObserverRex ReedApr 23, 2014
Walking With the Enemy is a powerful piece of filmmaking that examines history and heroism with big-screen artistry, imagination and thrills. Read full review
63
New York PostLou LumenickApr 23, 2014
Walking with the Enemy may not be another “Schindler’s List” (Ben Kingsley has a small but important role as Hungary’s deposed regent) but it’s handsomely photographed (A-list vet Dean Cundey) in Romania and a compelling addition to the Shoah canon. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeApr 24, 2014
Motivated by an earnest need to inspire, Schmidt's debut suffers from stiffness but improves as it goes, the tension of its plot overcoming many dramatic failings. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin ChangApr 27, 2014
Made with obvious passion and drive, but also a nagging predilection for Holocaust-drama cliches. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerApr 25, 2014
Because most movies about Holocaust saviors feature Jews as victims rather than as rescuers, Walking With the Enemy, by contrast, has a special cachet. But the film is as dramatically inert as its origins are inspirational. Read full review
50
Washington PostStephanie MerryApr 24, 2014
A simple retelling of these stories would have been more dramatic, more effective and more powerful. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperApr 24, 2014
As earnest and heartfelt as a movie can be, Walking With the Enemy is, unfortunately, a plodding and clunky drama that never misses an opportunity to embrace a cliché. Read full review
50
Boston GlobePeter KeoughApr 24, 2014
Does not sink to the bathos of Roberto Benigni’s Oscar-winning film (“Life Is Beautiful”), but it does reduce a period of irredeemable horror to the heroics of a single person. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleApr 24, 2014
Some of that emotion inevitably makes its way into our perception of the film, which elevates it somewhat, but only to the level of mediocrity. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreApr 23, 2014
After Walking with the Enemy, two hours and four minutes of torture, rape and mass shootings, you’ll feel you’ve been tested, too. Read full review
40
The New York TimesBen KenigsbergApr 24, 2014
Visually, Walking With the Enemy resembles a TV mini-series, a sense enhanced by the director Mark Schmidt’s habit of cutting away from bloodshed. Constant title cards introducing historical figures suggest the work of a completist rather than a filmmaker who has focused the material. Read full review
40
The DissolveJordan HoffmanApr 24, 2014
In the spaces between the hackneyed dialogue, ham-handed score, and poor acting, Walking With The Enemy eventually wins its sole victory: a desire to look the story up on Wikipedia later that day. That may be a small triumph, but it’s hardly the mark of fine cinema. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael NordineApr 23, 2014
As with many other WWII films, it takes genuinely stirring source material -- a young Hungarian man poses as a Nazi to find his dislocated family -- and reduces it to its most shopworn components. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleApr 24, 2014
This film from writer Kenny Golde and director Mark Schmidt slaps a clichéd war-movie dressing over everything so that what should have felt heart-poundingly incredible comes off as heavy-handed, ludicrous and unintentionally queasy. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsMiriam BaleApr 24, 2014
While a noble, inspiring story, the filmmaking is blunt rather than intelligent. Read full review
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