A Private War2018
A Private War (2018)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: A Private War honors its real-life subject with a sober appraisal of the sacrifices required of journalists on the front lines - and career-best work by Rosamund Pike.
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Cast
as Marie Colvin
as Paul Conroy
as Tony Shaw
as Sean Ryan
as Kate Richardson
as Rita Williams
as Norm Coburn
as Zoe
as Amy Bentham
as Gaddafi
as Adam Watkins
as Remi Ochlik
as Sri Lankan Hospital Patient
as Old Time Friend
as Tamilselvan
as Nurse
as Ignacio
as Sri Lankan Hospital Patient
as Newcaster #2
as Lily Shaw
as Newspaper Editor
as Sri Lankan Hospital Patient
as Nurse
as Gaddafi's Aid
as Passerby
as Newscaster #3
as Kensington Party Member
as Young Female Journalist
as Lady at Party
as Sri Lankan Hospital Doctor
as Newscaster #1
as Gaddafi Soldier
as Iraqi Captain
as US Public Affairs Officer
as Mrs. Lee - Gypsy Mother
as Amy's Friend
as Abdallah
as Iraqi Militia Corporal
as Iraqi Construction Foreman
as Head of Media Syria
as Faruq
as Sick War Child
as Tamil Group Leader
as Iraqi Militia Officer 1
as Gaddafi Translator
as Iraqi Militia Officer 2
as Walid
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Critic Reviews for A Private War
All Critics (145) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (128) | Rotten (17)
While Rosamund Pike delivers an unbeatable portrayal of Colvin, the film itself fails to say anything new about addiction or the demons she battles.
Poor, gifted Rosamund Pike is persuaded to play the American-born Sunday Times journo at full throttle, when half-throttle would be a nice occasional variant.
At a time when pressured media budgets are conspiring, with the general preference for escapism over reality, to threaten war reporting's very existence, A Private War unflinchingly reminds us of its value.
[An] impassioned if occasionally contrived drama...
I can only say, with confidence, that the film features a magnificently fierce, alert and impassioned performance from Rosamund Pike, whose usual English rose delicacy is nowhere to be seen. It is top work, properly.
Its grindingly earnest tone is that of the hasty posthumous tribute, rather than the more textured, inquiring long view of a worthwhile biopic.
Audience Reviews for A Private War
Pike is great, but the movie never coalesces around a coherent idea of who Colvin really was outside of vague ponderings about her wanting to do good and something about trauma. One feels that the real Colvin deserved something better.
Super Reviewer
A PRIVATE WAR (3 1/2 Stars) It's nice to see a fierce woman at the center of the familiar journalist in a war zone story, and Rosamund Pike's unsparingly aggressive performance as Marie Colvin, a BBC correspondent who lost an eye and wore a patch, makes her a "Fifth Estate Pirate" for the ages. This true portrayal of a woman whose outrage led her into deadly conflicts may seem like a lot of typing at computer screens, smoking, and fighting with editors to let her get into increasingly dangerous situations, but this urgently directed film wants to shake us out of our selfie-culture complacency and ask ourselves if we would be anywhere as ballsy and brave as Marie. Jamie Dornan surprises with an earthy, edgy performance as her photographer, reminding us that he has more than 50 shades to him. It's an imperfect film, episodic but impactful, but Pike is the real show, literally and figuratively exposing us to a woman whose imperfections were matched by her passion and heroism.
Super Reviewer
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