The Siege: Critic Reviews

Washington and Ms. Bening play smart, interesting characters who never quite connect, while Willis turns himself into the loosest military cannon this side of Dr. Strangelove.

The prejudicial attitudes embodied in the film are insidious, like the anti-Semitism that infected fiction and journalism in the 1930s--not just in Germany, but in Britain and America.

[Benning] is the only fresh, compelling character in the film.

The Siege is clumsily put together. Zwick is careless about plot details, so the movie is often needlessly confusing.

The Siege is many things at once: tense, exciting, disturbing, and thought provoking.

It's difficult to sustain a responsible subtext when you're delivering the jolts required to keep butts in the seats.

Even at its most unbelievable, The Siege has the performances of Washington and Bening to fall back on, and a theme that understands that what's difficult is not choosing right from wrong but 'choosing the wrong that's more right.'

More political than entertaining, The Siege is a reflection of our heightened awareness and sensitivity to terrorism and the price of freedom.

Zwick (Courage Under Fire) has fashioned another ethical tour de force that reveals his dedication to serious filmmaking.

If you like political thrillers with lots of explosions, domestic terrorism, and vein-popping army Generals, this movie's for you.

A gripping build up gives way to an incredibly dumb finish.

A flawed but not uninteresting political thriller that struggles with middling success to satisfy the dual aims of being both commercially entertaining and socially significant.

The Siege attempts to update the bluffs and counterfeints of the Cold War spy thriller, not to advance any ideological point but to obscure the fact that it doesn't have one.

The Siege raises a lot of important questions about racism, free speech, and the power of government. It doesn't deal with them particularly effectively.

It was like eating celery - crunchy and loud and tasty - then zero caloric content after all that trouble chewing it.

The Siege is a good idea that is never quite executed as it should be.

While the ending was pure Hollywood, and there was too much cute spy stuff, most of the film was suspenseful, engaging and thought-provoking.

With gritty cinematography and taut editing, the film maintains its energy and offers a palatable reality as the tension tightens.

An enjoyable movie.

At some point, the movie itself crosses the line, from a modestly thoughtful attempt to extrapolate a drama from real and urgent events to a generic action piece with predictable good and bad guys and pat, civics-book morals.

The Siege may well be based on a huge 'what if?' premise, but it's smart, taut and knows exactly what the hell it's doing. And it does it well.

A flawed melodrama that gives itself a self-important weight it cannot sustain throughout.

The concept deserves more than heroes and villains pointing guns at each other.

Denzel Washington, the great crowd-pleaser who will likely make The Siege number one in the first weekend's box office, is easily the big reason to see the movie.