Caroline Westbrook

Select another critic »
Empire
For 53 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 58% higher than the average critic
  • 1% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Caroline Westbrook's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 70
Highest review score: 100 Jurassic Park
Lowest review score: 40 Michael
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 28 out of 53
  2. Mixed: 25 out of 53
  3. Negative: 0 out of 53
53 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Empire Records
    For all its faults, the good-natured, quirky humour that this for the most part offers ultimately makes it very hard to dislike.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Multiplicity
    Both assuredly funny without being forced, and smart without being smug, this is one comedy that deserves to go forth and, indeed, multiply.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Shopgirl
    It's enjoyable and visually impressive, but this is a slender trifle of a film, one which charms you as you're watching it and then is all too quickly forgotten.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Swimming with Sharks
    This is a bold, enormously enjoyable effort, by turns both hilarious and disturbing.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    The Karate Kid
    Ralph Macchio's transformation from high school geek to butt-kicking tough guy, thanks to a little help from Chinese sage Mr. Miyagi (Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita) and his homespun Oriental wisdom, is entertaining enough.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Parenthood
    A funny and touching look at the joys of family life.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Dangerous Minds
    Pfeiffer's performance supersedes any of the material, but the rest of the film is a seething mass of clich's despite the "true story" origins.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    She's the One
    A pleasant package then, easy on the eye, and gently charming but, like The Brothers McMullen, one which places Burns as a comfortable rather than cutting-edge moviemaker.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    The Brady Bunch Movie
    This is enormous fun, one of the best TV adaptations to date, and guaranteed to provoke a nostalgic misty eye and mischevious grin in anybody who's ever owned a crimplene tank top.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    True Lies
    The net result is unbeatably good fun, helped along by that inherent fantasy that one man can create global mayhem without stopping to worry who's going to clean up afterwards.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    The Goodbye Girl
    With insightful one-liners by the bucketload and a memorable duo in Dreyfuss and Mason, this serves as a joyful reminder of a genre which has long since past its best.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar
    Despite the stars best efforts this is neither funny or original.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Shallow Grave
    This, the debut feature from acclaimed TV director Danny Boyle, is the best British thriller for years, a chilling and claustrophobic heart-stopper centring on a moral dilemma destined to fuel many a dinner party conversation.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Jungle 2 Jungle
    It does become marginally less cringe-making in the latter half, but aside from a hilarious set piece involving a cat/tranquilliser dart interface and a vaguely entertaining Russian Mafia subplot, this is tired stuff which should have stayed at home.
    • 32 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    The Wedding Date
    This is a leaden mess that offers only brief moments of respite.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Jurassic Park
    So the script and the performances aren't exactly Oscar material, but it scarcely matters given that the real stars here are the ILM-created dinosaurs, a miracle of modern moviemaking.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    The Disappearance of Finbar
    An ambitious and sloppy, yet occasionally likeable, cross-European fable.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Nell
    It comes across as a man's eye view of what a women's film should be like, and although it's not altogether clunky, you can't help but feel that in the hands of a more sympathetic director it could have been something really quite special.
    • 24 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Congo
    What begins as mildly intriguing stuff with some genuinely unsettling moments, quickly melts into a plot so confusing that it almost begins to look as though the editor was taking some mind-altering substance.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Blue Juice
    Although this may sometimes appear to be simply a bawdy soap opera, first-time director Prechezer injects such joie de vivre into proceedings that it scarcely matters.
    • 31 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Jack
    The formula for Robin Williams' childish stick wares dangerously thin this time out.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Ice Age: The Meltdown
    It's charming enough.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Nine Months
    While not exactly poised to bother the old grey matter too much, will provide a great night's entertainment for sitcom lovers everywhere. But doing for childbirth what Four Weddings And A Funeral did for nuptials remains an unlikely proposition.
    • 96 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Toy Story
    Just perfect. Script, character, animation....this manages to break free of the yoke of 'children's movie' to simply be one of the best movies of the 90's, full-stop.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    The Craft
    With suitable suspension of disbelief this makes for agreeable enough nonsense.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Fallen
    An arch mix of police procedural and supernatural chiller, this is bleak, edgy, sometimes silly stuff.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Mean Girls
    Despite its shortcomings -- it’s still one of the better teen movies to come along in a while.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Welcome to the Dollhouse
    It may not be to everybody's taste, but this is a daring antidote to its more saccharine cousins.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Circle of Friends
    Despite its glaring obviousness, this is charming enough to captivate the viewer, producing unexpectedly strong female characters and faultless attention to detail.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    The Muppet Christmas Carol
    Vastly enjoyable despite the syrupy, soppy song bit in the middle (go make a glass of mulled wine during it). Michael Caine is perfect in the role and there are many genuine belly laughs.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Fiddler on the Roof
    It still stands up as an upbeat portrait of pre-revolutionary Russia, and will have you whistling If I Were A Rich Man for days.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Yellow Submarine
    A garish, gorgeous example of pop art at its finest.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Nobody's Fool
    Mesmerising, magical portrait of smalltown America, dominated by a performance from Paul Newman so outstanding it must surely make him front-runner to hoist the Best Actor statuette come Oscar night.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Grease
    It's every bit the great songfest it's hailed as, with bucketloads of innuendo thown in behind some of the most energetic musical numbers ever to grace the inside of a movie theatre.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Roxanne
    Warm, charming comedy with one of the best one-liner scenes that remains a classic.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Raising Arizona
    Hilarious, madcap comedy from the Coen brothers that demonstrates just why they are the kings of quirk.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    The Sound of Music
    One of the greatest screen musicals ever.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 40 Caroline Westbrook
    Michael
    The script is clichéd and uninspired, the tone veering uneasily between unamusing comedy and over-sincere drama, all theological issues are weakly circumvented and the characters hardly relate to each other, let alone to any of their onscreen activities.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Matilda
    Matilda is a blackly comic, delightfully off-the-wall picture that both kids and adults will lap up.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Mrs. Doubtfire
    Although the broad comedy of the first half soon gives way to a tidal wave of entirely uncalled for sentimentality, this is still a laugh riot - the sight of our hero setting fire to his falsies never fails to amuse.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Brief Encounter
    Beautifully monochrome rendering of a love that cannot be.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Say Anything...
    Avoiding the 80s staple of angsty adolescence, Crowe has constructed an intelligent, witty yet undeniably cute tale, showing the potential that would be realised in Singles and Jerry Maguire, and giving Cusack's warm-hearted Lloyd the perfect foil in Skye's prissy model of student perfection.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Caroline Westbrook
    Gremlins
    A delightfully offbeat reminder of how inventive and witty blockbusters seemed when you were a kid.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Sky High
    As derivative as it all may be, it’s still superb entertainment.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Dante's Peak
    This is yet another one of those mindlessly enjoyable outings which eschews such unimportant details as plot or characterisation in favour of the biggest, flashiest special effects money can buy. Twister with lava, if you will.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Along Came Polly
    It’s not bad, but given all the talent involved, it would have been nice for Hamburg to push the envelope a bit further and deliver something with real bite. As it is, this is more of a pleasant, but forgettable, time-filler.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    American Splendor
    It's an hilarious, touching reminder that, sometimes, ordinary folk have the world's most interesting lives.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Muppets from Space
    The best Muppet movie for some time, adding film references a-plenty, dark, edgy comedy and even a touch of post-modernism to the usual all-singing, all-dancing ridiculousness.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Mrs. Winterbourne
    It's all a little too coincidental for comfort, and surprisingly short on laughs for a comedy, but nonetheless this is a light, well-meaning flick, improved considerably by Lake's scatty heroine.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    A Little Princess
    Soppy and girlish in the extreme, this should keep even the tiniest viewer rapt, while all too many adults may fall victim to an inexplicable bout of eye-watering long before the closing credits.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Sid and Nancy
    Alex Cox’s retelling of the Sex Pistols’ story from the point of view of Sid (Gary Oldman) and girlfriend Nancy Spungen (Chloe Webb) works as both spirited punk biopic and tragically touching love story. It’s a hard film to watch at times, as Vicious plunges deeper into his heroin-induced slump, but told with skill and compassion, which make up for the onscreen squalor.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 80 Caroline Westbrook
    Hard Candy
    It's not always easy viewing, but Hard Candy is an intelligent, challenging film which deserves to be seen.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Caroline Westbrook
    Muppet Treasure Island
    The sight of the Muppets making their first movie appearance since 1992's Christmas Carol - with no technological wizardry or flashy special effects applied to update the simple but effective puppetry techniques - proves to be a sobering experience. And the attempt of Jim Henson's bug-eyed creations to keep up with the times results in a breezily entertaining yet old-fashioned brew.

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »