David DeWitt

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The New York Times
For 33 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 54% higher than the average critic
  • 12% same as the average critic
  • 34% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

David DeWitt's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 90 Blood Brother
Lowest review score: 20 Jewtopia
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 12 out of 33
  3. Negative: 5 out of 33
33 movie reviews
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    • 44 Metascore
    • 90 David DeWitt
    Colossus
    A mindblower of a mockumentary, Colossus will leave you reeling in the best of ways, dizzy from a rock ’n’ roll Tilt-A-Whirl that swirls with duplicity and hilarity.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 David DeWitt
    Bridegroom
    What Bridegroom celebrates is not simply gay rights; it’s the human spirit.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 90 David DeWitt
    Fame High
    Fame High, a timely plug for arts education, does what its subjects hope to do: it opens our hearts and entertains with truth.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 90 David DeWitt
    Blood Brother
    A stirring documentary directed with narrative depth and unguarded heart.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 David DeWitt
    Copenhagen
    Mark Raso’s first feature, Copenhagen, takes on a taboo — great for high-stakes storytelling, if it’s not used to generate empty shock. Worry not: His absorbing film has a delicate nuance that will linger after the popcorn’s gone.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    The ROMEOWS
    There’s nothing flashy about The Romeows the film or the Romeows the men, but what they’ve created — their life’s art — matters.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    Still I Strive
    The innovative fictional narrative, woven throughout, demonstrates that many of these young actors have learned their lessons well.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    Tio Papi
    What lingers is the affectionate sense of family and place. Modest goals accomplished.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    Comet
    The visions (a meteor shower, Paris) are romantic and lovely, and there’s a sense of commitment to the enterprise that pretty much overcomes the near bathos and proves involving.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    Hawking
    Mr. Hawking — no shy and retiring genius, he — has star quality that he lets shine, whatever the limitations of its packaging.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    NOW: In the Wings on a World Stage
    What “NOW” does well is explain why these actors love the place- and time-bound quality of live theater, most evident in the troupe’s stop at the ancient Greek theater of Epidaurus.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    The Secret Disco Revolution
    The Secret Disco Revolution, however limited, is one smart documentary. It’s so clever that it makes fun of itself.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    The Human Scale
    If the result sometimes feels like a sedate lecture, the global journey strongly enlivens the lesson; it’s fascinating how alike and how different cities can be, and more fascinating to imagine what they may become.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    Married and Counting
    The services...lose a little drama after you’ve seen a couple of them. But they’re simple, worthy and sweet, much like the film that features them.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    The United States of Autism
    Yes, the animated opening sequence has a professional polish that the rest of the film lacks, but the documentary’s chosen angle is meaningful: The world of autism is as diverse as the nation.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 David DeWitt
    The Ghosts in Our Machine
    The Ghosts in Our Machine is a compelling movie, but its argument expands without deepening.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Forgetting the Girl
    Its characterizations may be overwrought — it is a thriller, after all — and the audience might prefer to have sympathy for a character without being practically told to feel it. But the acting is strong.
    • 35 Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Arise
    Arise always feels unified, a genuinely felt and executed womanist letter to the world.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Free China: The Courage to Believe
    “Free China” is not news, and, however moving, it’s really not art. It’s advocacy. In that aim, it is ardently committed.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Underwater Dreams
    Modest yet meaningful, Underwater Dreams has a political point of view, shining light on underground Americans who deserve recognition.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    My Father and The Man In Black
    No one in this complex and haunting documentary feels fully explained.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Postales (Postcards)
    While the film is let down by its plot, it is much too smart for reductive visions of “the other.” And there are moments, like a heartfelt exchange of keepsakes, when seeing Postales is a memory worth preserving.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 David DeWitt
    Wampler's Ascent
    It’s then, as nature documentary and inspirational device, that Wampler’s Ascent finds its power.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 David DeWitt
    Finding Mr. Right
    Finding Mr. Right (even the title is generic) has a top-to-bottom capable cast, a nice sense of place and a few honest epiphanies that are given time to land. But neither the comedy nor the romance exists beyond the level of idea.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 David DeWitt
    Rising from Ashes
    Rising From Ashes has the phantom limbs of missed opportunities.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 50 David DeWitt
    I Am Happiness on Earth
    If you hang on, the slow-paced “I Am Happiness” may teach you how to appreciate its scoreless, flat, dreamlike flow.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 50 David DeWitt
    One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das
    One Track Heart is too hagiographic to dive into messy spots, where truth tends to live.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 40 David DeWitt
    Five Dances
    A promising, though static, new film that never leaves its taciturn shadows for a single emotionally gripping moment.
    • 25 Metascore
    • 30 David DeWitt
    Killing Season
    It’s not worthless, but it’s not good. As a genre film, it’s too ambitious; as an art film, it’s too obvious.
    • 27 Metascore
    • 30 David DeWitt
    A Green Story
    This stately film lays out the good, the bad, the sad and the proud in stark patterns, to mostly soporific effect.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 David DeWitt
    Isn't It Delicious
    The film’s tone becomes mawkish, akin to a Lifetime movie that flaunts a little bite before it wallows in melodrama. All wit is vanquished by it, as well as by the slow pace and cheap bits.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 David DeWitt
    Turtle Hill, Brooklyn
    Turtle Hill is inconclusive from start to finish, and while that appears purposeful, it’s also pretty dull.
    • 8 Metascore
    • 20 David DeWitt
    Jewtopia
    On screen, where visuals reign and the simple pleasures of language are less paramount, the expanded Jewtopia is just a flat premise, uncomfortable not only because the clichés are groaners, but also because you feel sorry for everyone who’s working so hard to prop up the farce.

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