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Snowden

2016

Oliver Stone

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Shailene Woodley, Melissa Leo, Zachary Quinto ...

6.4

10,959

Thriller. Drama. Mystery SNOWDEN stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and is written and directed by Oliver Stone. The script is based on the books The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World's Most Wanted Man by Luke Harding and Time of the Octopus by Anatoly Kucherena.

	Author	Review
United States	Stephen Farber The Hollywood Reporter	"The big problem with 'Snowden' (...) is that it’s earnest, decorous, and — dare we say — a tad dull."	NEU
United States	Kyle Smith New York Post	"'Snowden' could have been a character portrait, but instead it's like 'The Bourne Identity' minus the chases and fights, which is like a ham and cheese sandwich minus the ham and cheese (...) Rating: ★½ (out of four)"	NEG
United States	Peter Travers Rolling Stone	"['Snowden'] sticks to the surface and buries the provocation (...) Stone strands us in biopic territory, which is no place for his rabid gifts as a filmmaker (...) Rating: ★★ (out of four)"	NEU
United States	Owen Gleiberman Variety	"'Snowden' isn’t just the director’s most exciting work since 'Nixon' (1995) — it’s the most important and galvanizing political drama by an American filmmaker in years (...) The movie has a deep-focus perspective, and a spine-tingling immediacy."	POS
United States	Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"'Snowden' is a superbly crafted, engrossing film that, while making no bones about admiring the central character’s actions and motivations, doesn’t go to visual or psychological extremes to make its case (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of four)"	POS
United Kingdom	Benjamin Lee The Guardian	"It often feels as if it were made in the mid-90s, with (...) a string of outdated stylistic choices (...) The only real saving grace is Joseph Gordon-Levitt who (...) gives an understated and entirely committed performance. (...) Rating: ★★ (out of five)"	NEU
United States	Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"For viewers who never saw 'Citizenfour', and perhaps have only a vague idea of who he is, what he revealed, and why he did it, then it's quite likely that 'Snowden' will provide an eye-opening experience."	POS
United States	A. O. Scott The New York Times	"Mr. Stone has made an honorable and absorbing contribution to the imaginative record of our confusing times. He tells a story (...) discreetly embellishing the record in the service of drama and suspense."	POS
United States	Joe Morgenstern The Wall Street Journal	"If there’s a cogent way to dramatize the story, though, Oliver Stone hasn’t found it (...) 'Snowden' is mostly flat, overlong, unfocused and didactic"	NEG
United States	Gregory Ellwood The Playlist	"As a piece of filmed entertainment 'Snowden' is certainly a watchable endeavor, but Stone and screenwriter Kieran Fitzgerald’s script is often an odd mix of hero worship, conspiratorial thriller and cringe worthy dialogue."	NEU

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