Day Zero (2007)
Average Rating: 4/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 16
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4/10
Critic Reviews: 8
Fresh: 0 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 3,028
My Rating
Movie Info
Three men come face to face with their concerns about war when they're drafted in this independent drama set in the near future. As the United States becomes more deeply mired in wars around the world and the threat of major terrorist attacks looms large, the federal government decides to reinstate conscription, and three friends face conflicting emotions as they wait out their last few days before entering the Army under the new draft. George Rifkin (Chris Klein) is a lawyer who has been
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Cast
-
Elijah Wood
Feller -
Chris Klein
Rifkin -
Jon Bernthal
Dixon -
Ginnifer Goodwin
Molly -
Elisabeth Moss
Patricia -
Ally Sheedy
Dr. Reynolds -
Sofia Vassilieva
Mara -
Zoe Lister Jones
Jessica
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All Critics (21) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (4) | Rotten (16) | DVD (1)
For a hot-button issue movie with a lot of potential for character development, it's slower than Christmas and disappointingly sluggish.
Top CriticProves that even the most controversial of topics can be the basis for the dullest indie films.
Truth to be told, it's hard to care.
If the abysmal reception so far for films about the war in Iraq is any indication, Day Zero is the last thing movie audiences will want to consume.
As the pals, Elijah Wood, Jon Bernthal, and especially Chris Klein mope around noncommittally, as if it were an upcoming trip to the in-laws' they were dreading -- not a potentially one-way ticket to a war zone.
There's very little that rings true.
It's not a groundbreaking film, but I liked the gritty feel of it. It's a small, little movie that manages to be thought provoking enough for me to recommend it.
...an engaging little drama that benefits from the stellar performances of its various actors.
no one will mistake this earnest try for Medium Cool. Maybe just Smallish Cool.
Through portraits of these three men, [director] Cole uses the possibility to explore themes of loyalty and duty, masculinity, class conflicts and a youth culture gone soft and spoiled, at times slipping into political rhetoric.
Presents characters as concepts rather than actual people, and deals much more with the theoretical consequences of war rather than the actual human toll.
A film that revels in defeatism and hyperbolized dystopia; a would-be political statement that is more insipid than insightful.
The film's relentless focus on the personal shortchanges the larger issues and ultimately reduces Fellner, Rifkin and Dixon to sociopolitical stereotypes.
A flat and poorly written drama about three buddies who are drafted and have 30 days to report.
Proves that Hollywood doesn't have a monopoly on ponderous, ersatz-thoughtful war dramas.
An implausible story centering on three characters whose differences in social class and temperament make the proceedings less than involving.
The semi-plausible Day Zero, a rather formulaic male buddy saga, asks hypothetical questions about the impact of a reinstated draft on three vastly different amigos, well played by Klein, Wood, and particularly Bernthal.
Audience Reviews for Day Zero
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January 17, 2008:
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