David Sterritt

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Christian Science Monitor
For 2,253 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 0.8 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

David Sterritt's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 Children of Heaven
Lowest review score: 0 Barb Wire
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,242 out of 2253
  2. Mixed: 751 out of 2253
  3. Negative: 260 out of 2253
2253 movie reviews
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    • 81 Metascore
    • 67 David Sterritt
    Daughters of the Dust
    Dash deserves great credit for reaching toward a new kind of cinematic structure that blends compassionate character exploration with a deep interest in the world of nature, and a bold willingness to let storytelling take care of itself at its own unhurried pace. One hopes, however, that in future works she will lean more decisively in a single clear direction - toward painterly visualization or toward psychological narrative. [30 Jan 1992, p.12]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Love and Death on Long Island
    Hurt gives an astonishingly sensitive and funny performance as the bedazzled intellectual, and first-time filmmaker Kwietniowski unfolds the story with an unfailing blend of humor and compassion.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Chaos
    The drama's elegant structure, which takes you through a series of surprises so smoothly and logically that it might be over before you realize you've seen one of the new year's most intriguing, intelligent movies.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Story of the Weeping Camel
    Blurring all the lines between fiction and documentary, this gentle and amusing movie blends real, unrehearsed material with delightful storytelling scenes.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Faat Kiné
    Intelligent yet easy-going masterpiece.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Bound for Pleasure
    Interesting as anthropology, although the subject won't appeal to many people.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The World
    This is a brilliant, if challenging, film.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Bad Education
    Spain's most important living filmmaker isn't at his very best in this complicated tale, but it raises still-timely questions well worth pondering.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire
    Wrenching on both personal and political levels.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Kiss of the Spider Woman
    It packs an emotional punch despite shortcomings of story and style.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Tom Dowd & the Language of Music
    Like its subject, the movie is a tad overzealous, but often fascinating and revealing.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Hours
    Kidman, Moore, and Streep do some of their best work, backed by a first-rank supporting cast.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Junebug
    This low-key drama is a miracle of mood, atmosphere, and sensitivity.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Café Lumière
    Hou's sensitivity plus Ozu's inspiration equals sublimity of sight and sound.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Tony Takitani
    The movie's underlying theme is the complex relationship between objects and memories, worked out through a taut, compelling story and superbly understated acting. Ryuichi Sakamoto composed the atmospheric score.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Million Dollar Baby
    It's an ideal match, and Eastwood deserves accolades as both director and star of this powerfully made picture.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 67 David Sterritt
    Prince of the City
    Though it periodically loses its way among cardboard characters and stereotyped scenes, it deserves hefty credit for attempting more than the average movie dreams of accomplishing. [13 Aug 1981, p.18]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Central Station
    The performances are engaging and the views of rural Brazil are captivating, making the film a solid audience-pleaser even though its story often seems familiar and sentimental.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till
    Required viewing for anyone interested in the struggle for American racial equality.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Patriot
    What might have been a treat for history buffs and a refresher course for the rest of us turns into just another occasion to watch Gibson shoot guns, swing tomahawks, and wreak other kinds of havoc on enemies we've been primed to hate.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
    Lovely to look at, if not very deep in its thinking about relations between humans and their animal friends.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    The Color of Paradise
    Although it has a good heart and a warm spirit, this prettily filmed drama is more sentimental and manipulative than earlier Iranian films on youth-related subjects.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Nine Queens
    This cleverly structured Argentine heist movie isn't as original or ingenious as it tries to be, but it's fun watching the chicanery veer down one unexpected pathway after another.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    A Fish Called Wanda
    There are a few hilarious moments, and a few more that are foolish and even disgusting. [15 July 1988, Art and Leisure, p.21]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Saraband
    Its leisurely, deliberative style is a perfect complement to the emotions it deals with - emotions so penetrating that I warn you at the outset how jarringly intense you may find Bergman's most brilliant drama in decades.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Taste of Cherry
    This highly challenging, deeply philosophical Iranian drama focuses on a man who has decided to end his life but first drives through the countryside in search of a compassionate stranger who'll agree to give him a proper burial. At once a compelling human story and an utterly fresh piece of moviemaking, the picture reconfirms Kiarostami's growing reputation as one of world film's most original talents. [20 March 1998, p.B2]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    The Blair Witch Project
    The movie would be better as a 30-minute short, though, since its shaky camera work and fuzzy images get monotonous after a while, and there's not much room for character development within the very limited plot.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Rabbit-Proof Fence
    Kenneth Branagh overplays his portrayal of Neville, but most of the other characters are skillfully acted by a solid cast, including the great Aborigine actor David Gulpilil as the tracker. In all, this is a watchable movie that's not quite the memorable experience it might have been.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Sunset Story
    Utterly unsentimental, deeply moving.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Minority Report
    Its most vivid scenes -- a visit with an insane ophthalmologist, a showdown at Anderton's supposed crime scene -- have the kind of anything-goes creativity that set "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" apart from the crowd last year.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Almost Famous
    Fugit gives a starmaking performance as the teenage reporter, and Crudup and Lee are excellent as the band's lead guitarist and singer, respectively.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Dead Man Walking
    The movie is often preachy and self-conscious, especially in long dialogue scenes, where Robbins's inexpert scriptwriting makes people talk at instead of with each other. Yet the picture's solid assets enable it to soar above such problems, both intellectually and emotionally. [29 December 1995, Film, p.13]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    In the Mirror of Maya Deren
    In the Mirror of Maya Deren, creatively written and directed by Martina Kudlacek, is an eloquent memorial to her unique accomplishments -- and an excellent introduction for those who have yet to discover them.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Human Resources
    This superbly acted, expressively filmed story offers a rare blend of compelling drama, ethical awareness, and sheer human emotion.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Two Brothers
    The animal action is often gripping and suspenseful. As a whole, a giant step beyond Annaud's earlier animal movie, "The Bear," a more gimmicky film of 1988.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Tarzan
    There's no over-the-top music or comedy sequence to place this with the very best Disney animations, though, and Phil Collins's songs won't be to everyone's taste.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The War of the Roses
    The ending is especially inventive, managing to be sour, cynical, sentimental, and upbeat at the same time. [22 Dec 1989]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 74 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    My Mother's Smile
    This superbly filmed Italian drama stands with Bellocchio's best work. Originally titled "Ora di religione."
    • 55 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
    The material is right up Schrader's alley, and while his vision of the first "Exorcist" chapter isn't a masterpiece, it's far superior to the Renny Harlin prequel to "The Exorcist" released last year.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Fever Heat [re-release]
    Its dark-toned cinematography by Henri Decaë still packs a wallop, and the screenplay has a refreshing sense of humor.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    The Dancer Upstairs
    While you can't fault The Dancer Upstairs for lack of ambition, its tantalizing ingredients add up to a less impressive package than I'd hoped for. Malkovich should select a more manageable subject the next time he sits in the director's chair.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Stage Beauty
    In the popularity sweepstakes, Stage Beauty may earn top honors, outdoing the overrated "Shakespeare in Love" as a dramatic comedy about life and love in an era more naive - but hardly more innocent - than our own.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Clueless
    For a while, it's like really cool, with lots of energy and stuff, but then it gets like major repetitious, and you wish it was like over, y'know? As if!
    • 84 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Last Waltz
    It's never been topped.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 25 David Sterritt
    Flirt
    Hal Hartley's innovative comedy-drama is more ambitious than successful, but it deserves credit for trying something genuinely unusual.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Piano Teacher
    Its grimness is explicit, so approach it with caution.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Monsters, Inc.
    The movie's cutest twist is that the monsters are more scared of kids than kids are of them, because they think human children are toxic.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    March of the Penguins
    As a zoological spectacle the movie is riveting. But the narration tries to make us think of these adorable animals as if they saw the world in human terms.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Spring Forward
    The movie's seven scenes were filmed in real time (as opposed to condensed editing-room time) over the course of a year, giving the drama an extra touch of realism and humanity.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Two Family House
    De Felitta dodges the temptations of sentiment and preachiness.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    City of God
    In its cinematic approach, though, the film is as slick as any Hollywood thriller, directed by Fernando Meirelles with visual flourishes - jazzy editing, lurid colors, crackling sound effects - that dilute the impact of what might have been an indelible cautionary tale.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    J.S.A.: Joint Security Area
    Suspenseful and psychologically rich.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Hotel Rwanda
    The subject is crucially important, but the movie dilutes its impact with by-the-numbers filmmaking, and Cheadle's one-note performance displays few of his acting gifts.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Eureka
    Understated acting and brilliant use of wide-screen black-and-white cinematography.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Baran
    Expressively filmed story of rivalry, romance, and cultural conflict.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Chunhyangdyun
    This astoundingly beautiful Korean production is poignant, original, and engrossing.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    High Fidelity
    The meandering story and channel-surfing style prevent it from gathering the emotional momentum it would need to get below the hero's skin and let us know what really makes him tick.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Terms of Endearment
    There's not enough substance to support the sentiment of this longish comedy-drama.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Kinsey
    The movie's style is fairly staid, but it's hard to imagine how Neeson could be better, and the subject is handled with taste and tact.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Madadayo
    Wordy, wearying drama.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    War Photographer
    Indelible images and brilliant use of unconventional music make this a nonfiction film that must be seen – and heard – to be believed.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Bright Leaves
    Deeply personal, morally alert, and highly entertaining.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Winslow Boy
    This is the kind of movie that literate viewers pine for, laced with gracefulness and wit.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    What Time Is It Over There?
    Tsai's cinematic style is unique: He unfolds his stories in long, static shots that let you discover their surprises and mysteries on your own. And that's great fun. What Time Is It There? is perky, entertaining, and one of a kind.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Before Sunrise
    Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are attractive stars, but what's most appealing about the picture is the value it puts on sharing ideas and feelings through language.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Look at Me
    While Jaoui's film is interesting to watch, it dawdles enough to lose its storytelling grip.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Lone Star
    John Sayles's offbeat western shows how public controversies often overlap with private grudges and conflicting memories.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Five Obstructions
    This movie equivalent of Robert Rauschenberg's artwork "Erased de Kooning" is funny, ornery, and ultimately inspiring.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Godzilla
    Not that Honda's original Godzilla is a message movie first and foremost. It's a horror flick, and an ingenious one at that, with visual effects so vivid that gimmicky spin-offs became an enduring staple of popular film.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Control Room
    A riveting new documentary about the Arab-run Al Jazeera network, reminds us that news programming can vary so widely from place to place that journalistic myths of "objectivity" and "impartiality" seem more naive than ever.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Salaam Bombay!
    The story sometimes seems hesitant to confront the most harrowing implications of the harsh realities it portrays. But it benefits greatly from Syed's close-to-the-bone performance as the boy.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The People vs. Larry Flynt
    Milos Forman's drama is full of outrageous material that will offend liberals and conservatives alike, but it's positioned on the cutting edge of contemporary debates about free speech, feminism, and the effects of mass media on modern society.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Harvard Man
    The first half of this freewheeling comedy-drama finds Toback at his imaginative best. The second half sinks into silliness.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 83 David Sterritt
    Ju Dou
    The gifted Zhang Yi-mou directed this gripping and colorful drama, which mingles beauty and perversity in equal proportions. [15 Mar 1991, p.12]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 79 Metascore
    • 88 David Sterritt
    Poltergeist
    The buildup is slow and deliberate, creating a vivid sense of love and warmth within the family who share the harrowing adventure. The climaxes are horrific, with effects recalling ''Raiders of the Lost Ark,'' but in a less exotic setting.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 63 David Sterritt
    The Untouchables
    The movie soars highest when De Palma engages in the purely visual storytelling that he considers (rightly) his strongest suit as a director. [4 June 1987, p.29]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Trolösa
    An intense, claustrophobic drama of love and infidelity.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Blind Spot. Hitler's Secretary
    Junge's testimony is a salutary reminder that Hitler was like other people in ways, and that the evil he manifested could visit us again if more civilized humans don't remain watchful.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Affliction
    Nolte gives one of his most fully realized performances, Coburn makes an amazingly powerful comeback, and Schrader's filmmaking has never been more expressive or assured.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    High Heels
    The story is stylishly filmed and acted with high spirits, but there's not much going on in many of its colorful shots.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Sweet Home Alabama
    It doesn't have a speck of authentic heart -- you can bet its Hollywood creators wouldn't move to Alabama if their lives depended on it -- but if you belong to the growing legion of Witherspoon worshippers, this is definitely the movie of the week.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Quadrophenia (re-release)
    Roddam's minor but imaginative 1979 movie.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Va Savoir (Who Knows?)
    Magical movie, which has brilliant fun with the contrasts between film and theater, love and infatuation, reality and fantasy.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    The Thin Blue Line
    A fact-filled study that's also a full-fledged work of cinema art. [2 Sept 1988]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Home Movie
    If one's domestic environment is a kind of autobiography, then the five households visited by this entertaining documentary reveal fascinating lives indeed.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Run Lola Run
    Tykwer's style gives the movie an explosive energy that never quits, marking him as the most ingenious new talent to hail from Germany in ages.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Devil's Backbone
    It's imaginatively filmed and builds a sense of brooding emotional power.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 88 David Sterritt
    Bird
    Bird isn't an easy film, and it doesn't always make an effort to be likable. But it's a dazzler - at least as good as "Round Midnight,'' and that's saying a lot.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The House of Mirth
    Wharton's old-school compassion and Davies's taste for artfully wrought melodrama make an unusual but ultimately successful combination.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Princess Mononoke
    More thoughtful and varied than the average Hollywood cartoon.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Full Metal Jacket
    What makes the film stunning is less its metaphorical scheme than its cinematic style. Always a matter of flowing camera movement, Kubrick has photographed much of the action with long "traveling shots" that capture time and space as a seamless whole, not fractured into the bits and pieces of standard editing techniques. [26 June 1987]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Head-On
    Superbly acted.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Witches
    The scenes of magic and mayhem are peppered with sly surprises, and Anjelica Huston plays the wildest wicked witch since Dorothy got back from Oz.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Lightning in a Bottle
    See it with an open heart and a tapping toe.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Catch That Kid
    There's a little humor, a little suspense, and not a hint of reality. You'll tune out quickly, unless you're 11.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Mimic
    The adventure is well-acted by Mira Sorvino and Giancarlo Giannini, among others, and imaginatively directed by Guillermo Del Toro, who gives a new twist to old science-fiction effects.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    The Deep End
    The same story was told vastly better in the 1949 melodrama "The Reckless Moment."
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Taste of Others
    Why does affection sometimes grow between people who seem to have little or nothing in common? That's the tantalizing question running through this capably acted comedy-drama
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    A Bug's Life
    The story is amusing and the animation is first-rate, but there's less sparkling originality than in "Toy Story."
    • 71 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Shadow of the Vampire
    Malkovich is wryly amusing as German director F.W. Murnau, and Dafoe steals the show as a vampire playing an actor playing a vampire.
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