The Undefeated: reviews

What the critics say average 3.2 from 13 outlets

• 5.0 IndiewireEric Kohn Even as it makes the facile Palin-for-president case, fence-sitters will find themselves non-plussed and existing Palin haters won't budge. Read
• 5.0 The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthy Once you realize the film is just going to be a string of encomiums against a backdrop of frantically edited archival material in which few shots are allowed to stay onscreen longer than three seconds, it's clear that no meaningful analysis of the woman's career or political agenda will be forthcoming. Read
• 5.0 Los Angeles TimesRobert Abele A troop-rallying campaign infomercial as imagined by Michael Bay: hero-worshipping, crescendo-edited at a dizzying pace, thunderously repetitive and its own worst enemy as a two-hour, talking-points briefing. Read
• 4.0 VarietyJoe Leydon Slickly produced and blatantly manipulative, Bannon's hagiographic tribute is a celebratory cavalcade of career highlights and glowing testimonials that doubtless will please Palin's devoted followers, appall her fiercest critics Read
• 4.0 The Village VoiceAnna Merlan Less a documentary than a glowing two-hour infomercial for Sarah Palin, Presidential Candidate To-Be.
• 3.8 Orlando SentinelRoger Moore A slick one hour and 50 minute version of those political convention hagiographies ("A Man From Hope"), so it's not exactly an objective take on its subject, former Alaska governor and vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Read
• 2.5 The Washington PostAnn Hornaday [A] fawning, oddly bloodless portrait.
• 2.5 The Salt Lake TribuneSean P. Means After proclaiming that Palin is a woman of substance, in the end Bannon's movie is all about her style
• 2.0 BoxofficeMark Keizer The Undefeated says less about Sarah Palin than about the political and cultural environment that made her big screen beatification possible.
• 2.0 TimeRichard Corliss The movie may tempt even the most ardent conservatives to emulate their idol's tenure as Governor and walk out halfway through. Read
• 2.0 New York MagazineDavid Edelstein It's a straight hagiography, without nuance or ambiguity or the admission of opposing viewpoints, even those meant to be dismantled. Read
• 2.0 The Independent CriticRichard Propes Neither insightful nor entertaining, The Undefeated's only true victory is in ever so slightly humanizing a woman who has become more of a media caricature than a politically relevant figure. Read
• 1.6 The A.V. ClubAlison Willmore Viewers are left to wonder if it's all actually some sort of vehicle for subliminal messaging. Read