Bill Cosford
Select another critic »For 588 reviews, this critic has graded:
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43% higher than the average critic
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2% same as the average critic
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55% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 10.5 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Bill Cosford's Scores
- Movies
- TV
| Average review score: | 55 | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest review score: | The Untouchables | |
| Lowest review score: | Still Smokin | |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 278 out of 588
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Mixed: 187 out of 588
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Negative: 123 out of 588
588
movie
reviews
- By Date
- By Critic Score
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- Bill Cosford
De Niro is solid in a role that requires little more than righteous indignation. The stretch, however, is by Sam Wanamaker in the role of a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in getting his Hollywood clients out of trouble by feeding them names to inform on. Wanamaker himself did 10 years in exile in England rather than answer a congressional subpoena after publicly defending the Hollywood Ten among other witch-hunt victims. The film is worth seeing if only for a look at him in this role -- these days, when the word hero is tossed about with something approaching desperation, Wanamaker gives us a glimpse of the real thing. Maybe he should have directed this one. [15 Mar 1991, p.G5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
When it comes time to paint a view of Southern California from the perspective of outsiders looking in and expecting miracles, Nava's touch is marvelously sure, the satirical edge all covered in chrome. Nava's is the kind of talent that a low budget cannot hide. [30 Mar 1984, p.D6]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
George Burns gets to play both sides of the cosmic fence in Oh God! You Devil, which is actually Oh God! III, and it's this device alone that saves the film, which might otherwise be unbearably cute. [12 Nov 1984, p.C1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Though the filmmakers have clearly done their homework, and clearly care, they don't find much remarkable in the story of Ritchie Valens. Even given the short life at hand, La Bamba is as schematic and predictable as it is likable. [24 July 1987, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Chase and D'Angelo are clever and naturally funny, and they're well-matched. And yet the movie is dumb, so dumb it must have taken some work to make it that way. Perhaps next the Griswalds should make a forced march through a Hollywood executive's brain. [27 July 1985, p.B3]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Very few moviemakers, I think, could have done the thing quite this well. At the end of Avalon, which is more than two hours long and does not move quickly, the extended and fractious immigrant Krichinsky family has bloomed into fabulous life, the characters deep and rich. [19 Oct 1990, p.G5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Honkytonk Man is Clint Eastwood's long, long ramble through the American Southwest in search of period, in search of character, in search of self-control. As a director, at least, he never finds the latter -- among the many things wrong with his latest film is that he apparently could not bring himself to slice away any of the flab. [22 Dec 1982, p.D18]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Octopussy is not very good. Though there's a good car- and-train chase scene and the usual schedule of narrow escapes, this one has fewer adventure sequences and less drama even than the last half-dozen. There are more gimmicks. [10 June 1983, p.12]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
This is one mean little movie, fully deserving of some sort of warning badge to keep out the faint of heart and blue of nose. It's not, by any stretch of the imagination, pornography, so disregard the onetime X (the film is being distributed without a rating). But make no mistake: Henry will give you the creeps. [10 August 1990, p.G13]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
The best things about this movie are first-rate comic performances by Young, Sherilyn Fenn (as Assante's worshipful secretary), Kate Nelligan (Assante's absurdly faithless wife), and by Assante himself. We knew he was a great straight man, but who would have guessed he had the timing for this? He has it. And Fatal Instinct has its moments. [30 Oct 1993, p.G1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Though there is certainly more to the film than its voluptuous second half -- Babette is an agent of redemption in more ways than one, for instance -- there's no overlooking the simple appeal of the climactic serving. [10 Feb 1988, p.D6]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
The Search for Spock should be great fun for Trek fans; it's splendid junk when it works. But if you can't hum the theme from memory, Trek III is likely to be just another way to kill two hours. [1 June 1984, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Penn and Oldman booze and brawl and fight a losing battle. Their worst enemy, alas, is their director's self-indulgence. [05 Oct 1990, p.G5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Director Coline Serreau has a deft touch with sugary material. Her Three Men and a Cradle is a slick, confident comedy that moves from point to predictable point without a surprise, but moves so gently and gracefully that it seems by the end something more than it is. [23 May 1986, p.D5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Though the quality of animation remains dismal, Care Bears II has many pretty pictures; they just don't move very well. Kids under five, particularly little girls, seem enthralled nonetheless. [31 Mar 1986, p.D6]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Like Midnight Express, for which Stone received an Academy Award for his screenplay adaptation, Salvador is better movie than document. But if Stone's style is entirely too florid for history, it is grimly arresting by Hollywood standards. Whatever else, Salvador is an original. [9 May 1986, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Ivory's version of A Room With a View is impeccably turned out and wonderfully funny once the rhythms are established, which does not take long. The performances are splendid, from Helena Bonham Carter's moon-faced Lucy to the Cecil of Daniel Day Lewis (who can also be seen in a role so different -- the loutish punk of My Beautiful Laundrette -- that it hardly seems possible he is the same actor). As expected, Maggie Smith (as Charlotte) and Denholm Elliott (George's free-thinking father), nearly steal the film. [4 Apr 1986, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
When he means to be funny, Balaban has a wicked way about him. When he means to scare, he's just like the rest of the pack. Still, there's something wonderfully subversive at work in Parents. Be warned. [17 March 1989, p.11]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Those opening minutes, in which Hawn plays a heavy, are some of her best work. The rest we've seen before, a lot. Overboard is overlong, and stale as can be. [18 Dec 1987, p.D6]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
A Dry White Season hits with the force of its convictions, and it hits hard. But it could have been more. [06 Oct 1989, p.G5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
The entire Nightmare on Elm Street oeuvre has been hailed by critics as a fascinating exercise in id projection and Freudian cant, which helps explain why criticism is in low regard. A better reason to see Dream Warriors, if indeed there is one, is that it's really pretty gross and neat. [06 Mar 1987, p.D2]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
The essence of the movie, and the key to its success, lies in the innocent rhythms of old-fashioned screwball comedy. [21 Sep 1984, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Footloose is for an audience that wants something easy to think about, a conflict in which the two sides are easy to distinguish and an "enemy" who is easy to look down upon. It's for the folks who like to skip dinner and go right to the cream- filled finale, and though not quite evil, it's as silly as can be. [1 Mar 1984, p.D12]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
For all its flaws, Bob Roberts is a singular achievement, a political film in a time when moviegoers want anything but. It's a bold move. Vote Tim. [18 Sep 1992, p.G10]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
To the extent that it has a serious theme, the film is about the tug of mortality and the demands it makes on simple humanity -- courage, selflessness, the sharing of wisdom. There's not enough of this, not by far. But it's something. The rest of Cocoon -- The Return is hash. [23 Nov 1988, p.D1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Basically, it's an inversion of an already proven formula, a kind of Fatal Attraction's Revenge, with every bit of business save the parboiled rabbit, and you can see the ending coming up Main Street. [08 Feb 1991, p.G5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Barfly is a perfectly incorrigible comedy, a movie of unusual shape and unpredictable moves. [25 Nov 1987, p.D9]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
Local Hero is almost magical, it is so unexpected. It is whimsy raised a power or two by the skills of a filmmaker who looks at life slightly askew. He sees enchantment in small, off- center encounters, and gets the enchantment onto the screen. [05 Apr 1983, p.D5]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
It's beautiful, too. Westerns just don't work without scenery, and Bruce Surtees, the cinematographer, shoots postcards. [28 June 1985, p.1]- Miami Herald
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- Bill Cosford
There's always something happening at the edges of The Flamingo Kid. And unexpectedly, considering the genre, there's something happening at the center, too. [21 Dec 1984, p.D1]- Miami Herald
