72
Metascore
32 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliImperfect as it may be, Bowling for Columbine is riveting stuff.
- 80The New YorkerDavid DenbyThe New YorkerDavid DenbyWhen he follows his nose -- say, by tracing his own connections to Eric Harris, one of the Columbine shooters -- he implicates himself in what he hates and fears, and he emerges as a wounded patriot searching for a small measure of clarity. [28 October 2002, p. 119]
- 75Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanCharlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanAt its best, the movie powerfully indicts our violent history. A montage of bloody U.S. interventions in foreign affairs over the last half-century, most overthrowing elected governments we didn't like, left me shaken.
- 75New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardMoore brilliantly unmasks the inanity of the arguments used in the debate over gun control in America. He then undermines himself by leaping into the blame game without supporting his central thesis, that the media is what makes teens like the ones at Columbine turn around and shoot up their schools.
- 75The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenMoore continues another one infinitely more valuable -- the proud line that extends right back to Mark Twain, embracing all those satirists so enamoured with America at its best that they won't stand silent for America at its worst.
- 70Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranLos Angeles TimesKenneth TuranMoore's concern about issues is genuine, and his showboating technique is often entertaining. But he is not the most organized person in the world, and there is a scattershot randomness about this film that is both its essence and a source of frustration.
- 70Film ThreatFilm ThreatIt’s a welcome addition to the national debate, which while not always on the money, is consistently thoughtful, smart and thoroughly satisfying.
- 67Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFun and informative, thoughtful and thought-provoking.
- 60Washington PostDesson ThomsonWashington PostDesson ThomsonMoore provides a rather rambling discourse of causality, which includes racism, white flight and Africanized bees.
- 58Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldSeattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam ArnoldIt's vintage Moore: on one level the courageous act of a gutsy journalist, and, on another, a callously unfair and self-serving spectacle that makes Moore seem like a big bully, and puts his audience into the position of a vigilante mob.