Andy Howell

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Film Threat
For 55 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 69% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 30% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 13.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Andy Howell's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 79
Highest review score: 100 The Cave
Lowest review score: 40 Aniara
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 49 out of 55
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 55
  3. Negative: 0 out of 55
55 movie reviews
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    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Andy Howell
    Irena's Vow
    Long after the last image has flickered into your eye, you’ll be left with a deeper, overarching appreciation of what humans are capable of at their best. You can’t put a price on that. Gordon and Archambault deserve a lot of credit for adapting her life in an exciting and heartfelt way.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Andy Howell
    Universal Language
    The film is so gloriously absurd that we are mainly driven through the narrative by the continuous reveal of new elements in this bizarre and hilarious universe. Still, when everything does come together at the end, there are some emotional payoffs that sneak up on you like a wandering turkey.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Andy Howell
    White Lie
    Directors Calvin Thomas and Yonah Lewis deserve credit for taking a gutsy leap with the subject matter and delivering without pulling any punches.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Andy Howell
    Working Woman
    To its credit, Working Woman is laser-focused on its theme. There are no superfluous characters or side-plots. There’s no best friend to confide in, no hilarious sidekick. There’s just a woman who feels all alone like there’s no one she can trust, no one who will understand her.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    The Eyes of Ghana
    The Eyes of Ghana leans heavily into the inspirational part of the story, and that’s understandable. Hesse is an inspiring figure, still fighting to preserve his country’s culture, restore film, and teach the younger generation, even in his 90s. But the film goes a little too hard on this point by adding soaring music and minimizing some of the complexity.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    A Call to Spy
    An important, compelling story that had to be told.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    The Starling
    The Starling is trying to be a feel-good movie about finding hope in dark times. That’s admirable, but the main problem is that it does it in such a down-the-middle, straightforward way. As a result, there aren’t any surprises and at least a few missed opportunities. Still, Melissa McCarthy and Kevin Kline are worth the price of admission alone.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    The Guilty
    The Guilty manages to keep things interesting with a propulsive plot.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Reptile
    Every scene with Del Toro is magnetic — this is his best role in years. The film is worth watching for his performance alone. It is almost a modern noir, but in a fresh take, the detective has a happy relationship.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Fingernails
    The success of the film mostly rests on Jessie Buckley in the lead role and her chemistry with Riz Ahmed as her potential romantic interest.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Daniela Forever
    Daniela Forever is interesting and provokes discussion, but it stays just on the dream side of greatness.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    That They May Face the Rising Sun
    Overall, That They May Face the Rising Sun is solid and worth your time. The acting is top-notch, and the story is compelling, but its verisimilitude is truly off the charts. This is the closest you can get to a time machine to take you to a bygone time and place that is little celebrated but worth remembering.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Devotion
    This drama is about a real war, actual people, and things that matter. While it probably won’t make a billion dollars at the box office, for my money, a true story well told in a heartfelt way is invaluable and important.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Dalíland
    It raises interesting questions about cults of personality, our inability to deal with aging, and how we can use the people around us to get what we want. That’s not exactly surrealism, nor is it realism. It’s just Hollywood.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    The Current War: Director's Cut
    The director’s cut of The Current War moves at a faster pace than the original, the characters are better fleshed out, and the drama is more focused where it needs to be. The new cut has elevated the film from mediocre to interesting.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Blackbird
    Even though you can see the strings in the puppet act, the plight of the characters still sometimes manages to get to you.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Riff Raff
    Where Tarantino is bold, the main shortcoming here is that Montiel plays it safe.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    Holler
    The real tragedy is that all of the characters in Holler seem incomplete.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Andy Howell
    The Dead Don't Hurt
    For better or worse, the film is more of an intellectual affair than a thriller.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Andy Howell
    Proxima
    It is that kind of “inside the life of an astronaut” angle that keeps the film reasonably engaging, even if you don’t care too much about the characters.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Andy Howell
    Mothering Sunday
    Another problem with the film is the pacing. The main story is interesting enough, but it just feels padded and stretched.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Andy Howell
    Chevalier
    The set design and production value are top-notch, which makes it even more jarring that the production sounds so modern and American. It is taken to such extremes as to be its downfall. It somehow seems less believable because we’re ever aware of being manipulated. It is a shame because, in this case, the real truth was so much stranger than fiction.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 60 Andy Howell
    Compartment No. 6
    Director Juho Kuosmanen excels in telling a story that seems entirely believable and realistic, never forced or predictable. The actors are equally talented.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 50 Andy Howell
    Moonage Daydream
    Part of the problem with Moonage Daydream is that it is trying too hard.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Andy Howell
    Aniara
    ANIARA has plenty going for it — a great concept, a coherent tone, an uncompromising vision, and an ending that’s the ballsiest thing I’ve seen since AI. Sadly these virtues are undercut by some unforgivable sins — it is boring, has underdeveloped characters, and has a childlike understanding of the scientific concepts supposedly undergirding the plot. One of those could be forgivable, but all together they spell doom.
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