- 9
...a wonderful drama...
—Kenneth Turan Los Angeles Times
- 9
...great, tragic...
—Michael Wilmington Chicago Tribune
- 9
This is the little film that could, the one that beat such highly touted films as Volver and Babel to win the Palme D'Or at Cannes. And deservedly so: Loach tells a horrifying, moving, and completely mesmerizing tale.
—Pam Grady Reel
- 9
...as alive and as troubling as anything on the evening news, though far more thoughtful and beautiful.
—A. O. Scott New York Times
- 9
You don't have to know about the history of "the troubles" in Northern Ireland to be swept up in the human drama of Ken Loach's The Wind That Shakes the Barley...
—Jim Emerson Chicago Sun-Times
- 8
...possesses the soul of an anti-war movie and the style of a thriller, with charcoal figures moving hurriedly against a darkened landscape periodically illuminated by bursts of gunfire.
—Scott Foundas LA Weekly
- 8
...a powerful drama...
—Maitland McDonagh TV Guide
- 8
...possesses the soul of an anti-war movie and the style of a thriller, with charcoal figures moving hurriedly against a darkened landscape periodically illuminated by bursts of gunfire.
—Scott Foundas Village Voice
- 7
It's a film that approaches greatness and then fumbles.
—Glenn Kenny Premiere
- 7
...activates the viewer the way the best political movies do.
—Kyle Smith New York Post
- 7
—Noel Murray Onion AV Club
- 7
Barley succeeds despite its hesitations and far-reaching ambition to tell such a large story in such modest terms.
—Chris Cabin filmcritic.com
- 7
...a heady look at the cost of revolution.
—Owen Gleiberman Entertainment Weekly
- 7
...an intermittently gripping but overlong political drama...
—Peter Rainer Christian Science Monitor
- 6
What started off as a compelling human drama becomes overwhelmed by windy, point-by-point debates.
—Leah Rozen People
- 6
...ultimately so frustratingly dull.
—Jeremiah Kipp Slant Magazine