69
Metascore
31 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 80The GuardianJordan HoffmanThe GuardianJordan HoffmanThis isn’t a particularly chancy film, unless the decision to go old school is considered such. It is still, however, quite good.
- 80The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeThe Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeIncreasingly tense and benefiting from a well-thought-out script by Tony Gilroy, it finds a slim opening for heroics in a place where all parties are tainted.
- 80VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyHamm’s bleary but still debonair presence, Gilroy’s cynically witty dialogue, and the not-quite-confusingly-large array of colorful characters underline how Beirut aims to be less a statement about Middle Eastern strife than a good yarn propelled by the unpredictable currents of international politics.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinIn Beirut, Hamm still doesn’t have the outsize personality we associate with major movie stars — a lot of whom are lesser actors. But he has focus. He can think onscreen. He can make you watch him closely, trying to keep up with the wheels churning in his head. I think he has fully arrived on the big screen.
- 70TheWrapSam FragosoTheWrapSam FragosoBeirut contains all the elements of a fun, snappy, pre-summer jaunt. And yet the film is actively in competition with itself. The tone is grim and honest when it wants to be, but not necessarily when it needs to be.
- What papers over any remaining cracks is the perfect casting of Hamm as the fixer turned business consultant dragged back into the morass. His raw charisma, and near-peerless ability to sweat martinis through a disheveled linen suit and still look stylish, sends the film's moral compass spinning – exactly as it should.
- 67The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThe A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyThough entertaining in stretches, the central metaphor of back-channel dealmaking as a game of Texas Hold ’em — played by Skiles and different factions within the CIA, the PLO, and the Israeli government — comes up short in the end.
- 63Slant MagazineSlant MagazineBrad Anderson's Beirut doesn't quite make foreign espionage look fun, but it shows how it might appeal to the sort of masochist who's also an adrenaline addict.
- 58IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandAnderson does add some style to the film, doing wonders with an indie-sized budget for a film that requires a specific period setting.
- 25The Film StageDaniel SchindelThe Film StageDaniel SchindelBeirut has zero character as a setting, reduced to a generic backdrop of rubble and sand. It’s not a real place with a distinct culture in a time and political situation which any writer worth their salt could cull mountains of rich material from – it’s Scarymuslimabad, capital of Clicheistan.