Brian Lowry

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Variety
For 153 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 49% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 13 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Brian Lowry's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 53
Highest review score: 100 The Pelican Brief
Lowest review score: 10 Cool World
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 32 out of 153
  2. Mixed: 104 out of 153
  3. Negative: 17 out of 153
153 movie reviews
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    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Priscilla
    The dramatic height difference between the leads accomplishes a great deal of work in “Priscilla,” visually conveying the power disparity between superstar Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, who he began wooing when she was just 14. Unfortunately, writer-director Sofia Coppola’s version of this oft-told story moves at a snail’s pace, offering fine performances but little to set one’s soul – or anything else – on fire.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The 40 Year Old Virgin
    Crude, sophomorically homophobic but frequently funny, pic also overstays its welcome a bit and indulges in some juvenile excesses. All told, though, The 40 Year Old Virgin delivers enough belly laughs.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Stand In
    As movies go, The Stand In certainly isn't a headliner. Yet like its title character, the movie and its star get about as much mileage as they can out of this opportunity.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Green Knight
    The Green Knight's sheer originality makes the film worth considering for anyone with a taste for such material.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
    Expanding upon King’s creepy concept represents a reasonably solid October-timed diversion amid the latest gluttonous wave of movies and TV derived from his writing.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Call Jane
    Call Jane is a good example of how a few questionable choices can muddle an otherwise-powerful story, with the recent HBO documentary version of these events, “The Janes,” outshining this fictionalized dramatic account. The portrait of an underground abortion network pre-Roe v. Wade is obviously timely, but its slightly askew focus blunts the overall impact.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
    The kind of buddy comedy Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau might have starred in 40 years ago, when the material would have felt less dated, if no less silly.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Haunted Mansion
    Disney’s latest renovation of “Haunted Mansion” is certainly clever in building off the foundation of the theme-park ride, with a darker streak than the last stab 20 years ago that starred Eddie Murphy. Yet even with a solid cast yielding good moments, there’s a general flatness to it, and a sense the movie is seeking to scare up what it can in theaters before settling into its natural haunting grounds on Disney+.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Cyrano
    Thanks to the cast (which also includes Ben Mendelsohn, near-unrecognizable as the villainous De Guiche), Cyrano is worth seeing, either now or later. But it's a relatively modest addition to the title's storied history, one where the music subtracts at least as much as it adds to the story's inherent poetry.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Rambo
    Stallone (who looks fit but mostly keeps his shirt on) has no intention of bogging the action down, but it's still a notably cheerless exercise, without knowing winks or stabs (pardon the expression) at humor. It is in all respects, rather, a completely workmanlike effort.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Apex
    A 90-some-odd-minute adrenaline rush that gets stretched out a bit beyond its weight even with its modest running time.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Glorias
    The key performances are strong, but director/co-writer Julie Taymor's movie meanders too much, dragging through the beginning and again toward the end.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Creator
    While the film traffics in thoughtful ideas as well as spectacle, it doesn’t complete the vital emotional connections between its head and its heart.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
    Deliver(s) adrenaline-fueled thrills, before fatigue creeps into the unrelenting mayhem about halfway through.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Long Shot
    Long Shot is a movie somewhat at war with itself, seeking to combine political satire with crude (in the mode of many Seth Rogen movies) romantic comedy. Both elements work in fits and starts, but they tend to offset each other, yielding a film more enjoyable for individual moments than any sort of cohesive whole.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Shazam!
    One wishes the movie had a little more heft to it. It's fine, even welcome, to see a superhero exult in his abilities, and on that level, "Shazam!" is generally fun. Even so, that lightning symbol notwithstanding, the film only occasionally conjures the spark of magic that gives the title its meaning.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Eternals
    Eternals simply takes too long getting to the good stuff, and its more cerebral and adult elements – including a grand romance – could harbor less appeal among kids, a not-inconsequential demo, than most recent Marvel titles.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Pamela, a love story
    The result is a humanizing look at a woman often reduced to cartoon caricature, while occasionally feeling too conspicuously like a licensed product.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Funny or Die Presents: Donald Trump's the Art of the Deal: The Movie
    Other than skewering Trump, both personally and politically, this is obviously a rather slim construct. And while Depp throws his all into perhaps his hammiest role since Jack Sparrow, it probably would have benefited from a bit less length and a tighter focus.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Predator: Badlands
    It feels ready-made fodder for streaming’s “You might like” tier.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Us
    As a first film, this movie would have surely been hailed for its promise. Held up against a debut that garnered a well-deserved Oscar nomination and honors for best original screenplay, it's easy to come way thinking that "Us" doesn't merit all that fuss.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Frankenstein
    While it’s worth watching, what clearly aspires to be the definitive telling of the story ultimately isn’t.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Truth About Cats & Dogs
    What really makes The Truth About Cats & Dogs special in places however, is Garofalo's dry, self-effacing wit and Thurman's ditzy, old-style Hollywood glamour.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Respect
    Earnest to a fault, Respect spells out a handsome tribute to Aretha Franklin, with Jennifer Hudson and her peerless singing pipes as its formidable anchor. Yet this biography never fully sparks to life, as the Queen of Soul fights in episodic fashion to establish and later protect her musical legacy from the domineering men in her life.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Joker
    Director Todd Phillips is best known for "The Hangover" trilogy, and has seemingly overcompensated for his comedy roots by delivering a movie virtually devoid of humor.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
    A solidly made animated feature, but one more notable for the height of its aspirations than its consistent ability to deliver on them.
    • 37 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    The Addams Family 2
    This animated sequel plucks enough of the right buttons to qualify as a reasonable addition to family movie time.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Glass
    Proves just clever enough to come out on the right side of a split decision.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F
    “Axel F” only turns up the heat to a low simmer, but as breezy escapism goes, those armed with the proper attitude might find themselves doing the neutron dance, or a version of it, all over again.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 60 Brian Lowry
    Palm Springs
    The film turns out to be a fun but thin construct, fostering a sense of itchiness to see how and if it's going to pay off.
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