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Unit, The
SERIES: CBS, Tuesday 9:00p (60 minutes)
Starring
Dennis Haysbert,
Scott Foley,
Robert Patrick,
Regina Taylor,
Max Martini,
Michael Irby,
Demore Barnes,
and
Abby Brammell
Playwright David Mamet's first real stab at network television follows an elite Special Forces unit (led by 24's Dennis Haysbert) on covert missions around the globe, while also focusing on the wives left behind.
| GENRE(S): |
Action / Adventure,
Drama
|
| CREATED BY: |
David Mamet
|
| FIRST AIR DATE: |
March 7, 2006 |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
83
Christian Science Monitor Gloria Goodale
This could all get old really fast, but Taylor's steely performance keeps the home front interesting, while the globe-trotting soldiers bring home the reality of how many troubled spots this small planet still has.
80
Salon Heather Havrilesky
One of the major strengths of "The Unit" is its ability to tackle the blurry ethical lines and confusing behavioral codes of the military during a time of war.
80
San Jose Mercury News Charlie McCollum
It just oozes potential with sharp dialogue and a strong cast.
80
Hollywood Reporter Barry Garron
"The Unit" is filled with thrilling action and heart-pounding adventure.
80
Orlando Sentinel Hal Boedeker
Mamet skillfully balances the men's harrowing missions with their wives' sacrifices on the home front.
80
Philadelphia Inquirer Jonathan Storm
Only an occasional over-spicing of melodrama keeps The Unit from TV's top echelon. Even so, it's the best new dramatic series of a TV season that started way back in September.
75
Chicago Sun-Times Doug Elfman
"The Unit"... is predictably Mametian only in that it's interesting, tightly written and finely shot.
75
Detroit Free Press Mike Duffy
It's uneven in spots, with the riveting action sequences sometimes overshadowing the more subdued domestic scenes. But unlike the often gratingly shallow "JAG," "The Unit" allows for ambiguity.
75
Entertainment Weekly Ken Tucker
This being Mamet, there's lots of folksy jargon. [10 Mar 2006, p.56]
75
San Francisco Chronicle Tim Goodman
Sometimes formula done entertainingly is just what the country wants to eat.
70
Washington Post Tom Shales
Mamet offers a kind of thinking person's war movie for a nation that is, indeed, at war.
70
LA Weekly Robert Abele
There are glimmers of something refreshingly different.
70
Seattle Post-Intelligencer Melanie McFarland
A promising cast and respected executive producers conspire to give "The Unit" a shot at being this spring's breakout hit. But the real proof's in the pilot, a thrilling balance between the action of this sharpshooting brotherhood and the schemes of their secretive, slightly overbearing wives.
60
Wall Street Journal Nancy DeWolf Smith
After the male action sequences, alas, the feminine interludes tend to be soporific.
60
Los Angeles Times Robert Lloyd
This is news that never quite rises to the level of an event: "David Mamet Came to Television and All We Got Was a Better 'E-Ring.' "
60
Newsday Verne Gay
Some of Mamet's dialogue is certifiably awful and some certifiably brilliant, and the dichotomy is breathtaking.
50
The New York Times Alessandra Stanley
"The Unit" becomes distinctive only when the action shifts back to the wives left behind on the base.
50
Chicago Tribune Maureen Ryan
A grim, formulaic drama.
50
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Rob Owen
A not-awful but not-great drama.
50
New York Daily News David Hinckley
"The Unit" features a strong cast - but for much of this show, they're cast adrift.
40
Boston Globe Matthew Gilbert
These two extraordinary talents have done an average job with what is a surprisingly unimaginative premise.
38
New York Post Adam Buckman
The executive producers of this series are David Mamet and Shawn Ryan, but it has none of the panache of Mamet's plays and movies such as "Glengarry Glen Ross" or "The Spanish Prisoner," and none of the blunt force of Ryan's best-known work, "The Shield" on FX.
30
Cleveland Plain Dealer Mark Dawidziak
Halfway through tonight's clunky and cartoonish debut, it dawns on you that we're stuck in the middle of Operation Letdown.
30
Miami Herald Glenn Garvin
The Unit hits more false notes than an American Idol tryout.
20
The New Republic Lee Siegel
What you get is a show constricted by radical artistic compromises that it refuses to acknowledge having made. The result is an expulsion of Mamet's distinctive vision into the margins of the series, in which it wanders around like a director who's been fired from a movie yet will not leave the set.
 The average user rating for this tv show is 7.0 (out of 10) based on 125 User Votes
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