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 0.7 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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    • 68 Metascore
    • 63 David Sterritt
    All of Me
    It's a ridiculous story, and the screenplay (by Phil Alden Robinson) stuffs it with low jokes and bathroom humor. Yet a number of scenes are sly as well as silly, and director Carl Reiner knows when to inject a little pathos for a change of pace. He also uses touches of jazz that lend a gentle rhythm the movie would otherwise lack. [25 Sep 1984, p.23]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 63 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Persons of Interest
    Not a great movie, but a valuable and revealing document.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Mondovino
    The real subject, though, is how globalization fosters a homogeneous, "same-old-stuff" conformity that molds almost everything on the planet into an ever-shrinking number of shapes, sizes, and varieties.
    • 100 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Sweet Smell of Success (re-release)
    Everyone raves about this 1957 film -- and everyone's right.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 25 David Sterritt
    The Time Machine
    If you want a movie time trip, the 1960 version is a far smoother ride.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    James and the Giant Peach
    Told through both animation and live action, the fantasy is almost too inventive for its own good, filling the screen with unsettling pictures and situations that could be much too scary for young viewers.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Igby Goes Down
    Hammers home its tragicomic points too heavily for either its humorous or dramatic aspects to gather much emotional steam.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Witness
    Along with some creaky plot mechanics in the last third of the story, this reduces the film to ordinary dimensions - a sharp but no longer resonant show.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Red Dragon
    The most refreshing aspect of Red Dragon is its reliance on old-fashioned acting instead of computer-aided gizmos. Hopkins overdoes his role at times -- his vocal tones are almost campy -- but his piercing eyes are as menacing as ever, and Ralph Fiennes is scarily good as his fellow lunatic.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Smoke Signals
    The movie makes up in sincerity and goodwill what it lacks in originality and style.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Maria Full of Grace
    Timely, pointed messages about oppression and opportunity come poignantly through in strongly dramatic terms.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 25 David Sterritt
    Fools Rush In
    Tennant's featherweight comedy is clearly pitched at the date-movie crowd, and couples may enjoy it if they can get past the picture's simplistic ethnic stereotypes and its willingness to wish away every real-life family problem the characters will surely face after the feel-good finale.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Days of Being Wild (re-release)
    It's inexplicable that Wong's early masterpiece has been virtually absent from American screens since he completed it in 1991.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    South Central
    A former gang member, his ten-year-old son, and Los Angeles street life are the main concerns of this uneven story, which isn't convincing enough as drama to achieve the consciousness-raising effect that appears to be its goal. [26 Oct 1992, p.12]
    • Christian Science Monitor
    • 49 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Return to Never Land
    It's refreshing to see a cartoon that looks like a cartoon -- and a lovingly drawn one -- rather than a conglomeration of computer-generated bits and bytes.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Chorus
    Extremely goodhearted, if not exactly original or exciting.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Other Side of the Street
    An absorbing new spin on the ingenious "Rear Window" concept, with poignant comments on aging in modern society.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 67 David Sterritt
    Career Girls
    The tale doesn't always seem sure where it's going, and for once in his career, Leigh doesn't always appear to have a firm grasp on his project.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 25 David Sterritt
    The Long Kiss Goodnight
    The suspense sequences are straight from the standard Hollywood blueprint, and the movie as a whole is so sloppily assembled that it's almost incoherent at times.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Pellet
    This drama has won an armload of international prizes, including multiple honors in Spain's equivalent of the Oscar race, marking Mañas as a director with a bright future.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Truth About Charlie
    Chalk this razzle-dazzle chase picture up as effective Friday-night entertainment, not the heart-stirring romantic thriller it might have been. That's the real truth about "Charlie."
    • 32 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Alex & Emma
    Alex & Emma isn't nearly as clever as Reiner's classic "Misery," a very different look at a male writer and his female companion. But it's diverting fun.
    • 26 Metascore
    • 33 David Sterritt
    Patch Adams
    The movie starts with insights about the need for more humane values in health care, then buries them under an avalanche of frivolities, vulgarities, and clichés.
    • 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.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 100 David Sterritt
    Control
    If it weren't so smartly filmed and acted, this might add up to an over-the-top mess. But watch how inventively Mr. Antal keeps the action moving and you'll see why his picture has won a passel of prizes.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    The Goebbles Experiment
    Informative and illuminating.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Saving Grace
    Blethyn's lively acting and some visually amusing moments lend spice to this minor but engaging comedy.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 50 David Sterritt
    Eve's Bayou
    In the end, however, the story is too contrived and melodramatic to reach its full potential.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 25 David Sterritt
    Dangerous Minds
    Movie stars have tamed sassy kids in movies from "The Blackboard Jungle" to "Stand and Deliver," but it's hard to remember an example more patronizing or sentimentalized than this one.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 75 David Sterritt
    Booye kafoor, atre yas
    This understated Iranian drama affirms life as vigorously as it provokes thought.
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