Affliction hones in on masculinity and the demons that men inherit from one another.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jun 24, 2024

Nolte is phenomenal in what’s a career performance, but he was absurdly beaten for the Best Actor Oscar by the buffoonish Roberto Benigni for that extended Hogan’s Heroes episode.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Apr 22, 2024

There are too many of these men in life, and not enough films that tell their sad tales. That gives Affliction a therapeutic worth.

| Apr 1, 2019

"Affliction'' stands as one of [Paul] Schrader's finest efforts, but the real star is [Russell] Banks, who tells a small story with universal implications and explores the devastating affliction of violence between men.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Jan 2, 2018

It's like watching the disintegration of a psyche under a microscope as cracks in Wade's facade erupt into tremors of violence.

| Jun 15, 2017

| Original Score: A | Sep 7, 2011

Nolte could have based his oddly sympathetic performance on the image of a sick animal scrounging for food and shelter along deserted country roads.

| Aug 21, 2009

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 7, 2008

Schrader has skillfully turned Banks' novel into a compelling character study.

| Original Score: A- | Jan 11, 2007

Well acted by Nolte and Coburn, Schrader's strongest film in years is a powerful reverie on family curse, how incontrollable anger, drinking, and violence almost inevitably pass on from one generation to the next.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 12, 2006

Affliction is a shattering film, a dose of bracing naturalism based on Russell Banks' most lacerating novel.

Full Review | Original Score: A- | Jan 8, 2005

One wonders why Dafoe is even in the movie. But Nolte is, and that's what enriches Schrader's bleak drama.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jul 7, 2004

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 11, 2004

A terrifying movie that faces the truth of cruelty and its everlasting results.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jan 17, 2003

| Original Score: C+ | Jan 10, 2003

Full Review | Oct 2, 2002

Despite some great performances, Affliction never really takes off.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Sep 25, 2002

The heart of Affliction is Nick Nolte's searing performance.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 30, 2002

| Original Score: 3/4 | Aug 21, 2002

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 18, 2002