 The result is something that, whilst hardly original or groundbreaking, is nevertheless refreshing in its earnestness to avoid dark dramatic stylings in favor of an easy-going, crowd-pleasing action movie with a sprinkle of anti-war and redemption themes".Among major metropolitan weeklies, David Edelstein of "New York" magazine called the film "a shapely piece of mythmaking ... Favreau doesn't go in for stylized comic-book frames, at least in the first half.He gets real with it – you'd think you were watching a military thriller", while conversely, David Denby of "The New Yorker" gave a negative review, claiming "a slightly depressed, going-through-the-motions feel to the entire show ... Gwyneth Paltrow, widening her eyes and palpitating, can't do much with an antique role as Stark's girl Friday, who loves him but can't say so; Terrence Howard, playing a military man who chases around after Stark, looks dispirited and taken for granted".