88
New York Post by Lou Lumenick
Splendidly spectacular, intelligent and very well-acted.
The Four Feathers
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United Kingdom,
- United States
- 2002
- · 132m
Director
Shekhar Kapur
Cast
Heath Ledger,
Wes Bentley,
Kate Hudson,
Djimon Hounsou,
Alex Jennings,
Michael Sheen
Genre
War,
Drama,
Romance,
Action,
Adventure
The story, set in 1875, follows a British officer (Heath Ledger) who resigns his post when he learns of his regiment's plan to ship out to the Sudan for the conflict with the Mahdi. His friends and fiancée send him four white feathers which symbolize cowardice. To redeem his honor he disguises himself as an Arab and secretly saves the lives of those who branded him a coward.
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What are critics saying?
63
New York Daily News by Jack Mathews
Ultimately, The Four Feathers is strong where its predecessors were weak (in the authenticity of combat) and weak where they were strong (in the larger-than-life quality of the characters). It's not a good exchange.
63
Miami Herald by René Rodríguez
What The Four Feathers lacks is genuine sweep or feeling or even a character worth caring about.
60
Chicago Reader by J.R. Jones
The film's opening and closing moments are weirdly reminiscent of "Black Hawk Down," another tale of Western soldiers in over their heads on the dark continent -- clearly no one these days understands manifest destiny.
50
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Offers too small a dose of the blood-and-sand adventure you expect from this sort of big-budget Hollywood remake. As it is, it borders on The English Patient's on again-off again heroics, minus Anthony Minghella's patient skill in eliciting romantic suspense.
50
Village Voice by J. Hoberman
Feels both tiresomely old-fashioned and disturbingly topical.
50
Rolling Stone by Peter Travers
It should have been an old-fashioned rouser, and sometimes it is. The great cinematographer Robert Richardson (JFK) lights the battle scenes like action paintings. But Kapur weighs down the tale with bogus profundities.
40
The New Yorker by Anthony Lane
Illogical and glum. [30 Sept 2002, p. 145]
30
L.A. Weekly by Chuck Wilson
A mindless muddle.
30
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Such few assets aren't enough to alleviate the film's shallowness.
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