The Path to 9/11

:

Season 1
  • Network: ABC
  • Series Premiere Date: Sep 10, 2006
Metascore
52

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 6 out of 18

Critic Reviews

  1. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Gloria Goodale
    100
    It's the best made-for-TV movie in years.
  2. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Dorothy Rabinowitz
    90
    A work as shapely as it is sprawling -- no small trick -- it renders the complex history that led to 9/11 with a ripping power that can at times feel overwhelming.
  3. TV Guide Magazine
    Reviewed by: Matt Roush
    80
    It is intensely serious, and seriously well done.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Ray Richmond
    80
    Powerfully acted, artfully produced and shot like a truly riveting page-turner.
  6. Newsday
    Reviewed by: Diane Werts
    80
    The filmmakers' assurance makes this miniseries play more like bang-up drama than fact-filled documentary. Yet their facts pass informative muster, and emotional validity, too.
  7. Detroit Free Press
    Reviewed by: Mike Duffy
    75
    On a simple quality drama level, it's the best network miniseries in several years.
  8. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Alessandra Stanley
    70
    An unsparing, and at times hyperbolic, portrait of bureaucratic turf wars, buck passing and complacency.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Robert Bianco
    63
    Too confused for a documentary, insufficiently dramatized for a movie, Path simply doesn't have the skill needed to support its intentions.
  10. People Weekly
    Reviewed by: Tom Gliatto
    63
    Path sometimes feels like 24 downsized into The Office. [18 Sep 2006, p.39]
    All this critic's reviews
  11. Salon
    Reviewed by: Heather Havrilesky
    40
    The six-hour film plays like a 9/11 version of "Syriana" or "Traffic," replete with ultra-close-ups and so much shaky, hand-held footage it can feel like being led around the world, half-drunk and half-blind.
  12. Variety
    Reviewed by: Brian Lowry
    40
    Earnest but scattered and a little plodding.
  13. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
    Reviewed by: Melanie McFarland
    40
    One could never call "The Path to 9/11 " poorly filmed and amateurishly acted. Just questionably written.
  14. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    33
    The results strain so hard to be objective and evenhanded that they're useless as drama. [8 Sep 2006, p.149]
    All this publication's reviews
  15. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    Reviewed by: Rob Owen
    30
    The miniseries asks a lot of patience on the part of viewers and gives too little in return.
  16. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Matthew Gilbert
    30
    "The Path to 9/11" never quite arrives at narrative coherence and depth.
  17. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Samantha Bonar
    20
    "The Path" is an irresponsible film, with its factual distortions wrapped in a really terrific package that lulls viewers into complacency, setting them up for the propaganda that is to follow.
  18. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Storm
    20
    So much of the dialogue is just dull explanation, and so much of the action rehashes events that are already known. Worse, sometimes, it repeats itself.
  19. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Doug Elfman
    0
    "Path" is the dullest, worst-shot TV movie since ABC's disastrous "Ten Commandments" remake. It substitutes shaky handheld cameras and dumb dialogue for craftsmanship. It could not be more amateurish or poorly constructed unless someone had forgotten to light the sets.

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best TV Season of 2006
39
#39 Most Discussed TV Season of 2006
37
#37 Most Shared TV Season of 2006

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 84 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 84
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 84
  3. Negative: 37 out of 84
  1. BizT
    Jan 3, 2007
    10
    Fantastic! The only doubt I have is that Richard Clarke truly understood the threat from al-Qaeda and least of all that he was the only one Fantastic! The only doubt I have is that Richard Clarke truly understood the threat from al-Qaeda and least of all that he was the only one who did. Although Stephen Root does a good job capturing the arrogance and phony humility Richard Clarke showed in his testimony before the 9/11 commission.… Full Review »
  2. MattN
    Dec 26, 2006
    10
    This excellent portrayal of the events leading up to the horrible, predictable, preventable events of 9/11, should be seen by everyone. See This excellent portrayal of the events leading up to the horrible, predictable, preventable events of 9/11, should be seen by everyone. See how officials fight each other instead of the countries enemies.… Full Review »
  3. kater
    Sep 26, 2006
    10
    truly excellent. Both parties look bad, but still most reviews are political.
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