Dennis Harvey

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Variety
For 1,462 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 48% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 9.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Dennis Harvey's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 57
Highest review score: 100 The White House Effect
Lowest review score: 0 The Hottie & the Nottie
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 560 out of 1462
  2. Mixed: 718 out of 1462
  3. Negative: 184 out of 1462
1462 movie reviews
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    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Hammer
    The pileup of disasters is such that this tale might easily have been spun as some kind of grotesque comedy. But writer-director Christian Sparkes’ second feature plays it straight, narrowly evading viewer disbelief via strong principal performances and sufficiently urgent execution.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Dennis Harvey
    Dark Days
    Intimate and engrossing.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    The Desert of Forbidden Art
    Absorbing documentary is a natural for artscasters.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Dennis Harvey
    Nina Forever
    Eccentric as this premise is, the Blaines’ screenplay trails behind their confident direction in terms of ringing interesting variations on a limited, somewhat repetitious theme.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    Land of Mine
    Zandvliet’s script and direction avoid milking an innately loaded situation for excess melodrama or pathos, sticking to a discreet economy of approach that accumulates considerable power.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Dennis Harvey
    Afterimage
    While this grim story is one worth telling, it’s a pity that in relating the bum’s-rush Strzeminski got in later life, Wadja couldn’t have communicated more of what sustains his legacy as a great artist and innovator.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    The Deeper You Dig
    It’s a nicely economical tale of supernatural vengeance that benefits from its small scale and lived-in atmospherics.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Pump
    For unabashed agitprop, Pump is quite entertaining.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Waitress
    While aspects verge on sitcom terrain, this tale of a pregnant small-town woman caught between a bad marriage and a risky affair is mostly as funny and charming as intended.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Dennis Harvey
    The Others
    A luxuriously old-fashioned star vehicle custom-fit to its topliner's strengths, which come across to sensational effect.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Dennis Harvey
    Ichi the Killer
    Completely over-the-top yakuza actioner -- featuring nonstop mayhem, gore, torture and S&M -- duly reflects its comic book origins in both style and barely coherent narrative frenzy.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Cheatin'
    The writer-director-producer’s pulsing, pencil-etched, pastel-hued animation style is a pleasure to behold as ever.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 30 Dennis Harvey
    High Voltage
    Short on thrills and energy despite its title, this slick yet sluggish feature often seems barely interested in the horror elements that are, after all, what will primarily lure viewers in.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Judy Berlin
    Numerous lovely, quirky moments.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in His Own Words
    Thorsten Schutte’s entirely archival assemblage is most likely to be appreciated by the previously converted, as its stimulating if somewhat patchy overview of a multi-various career skims over or omits too many aspects to comprise a definitive introduction.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    Gods and Monsters
    Doesn’t always convince, particularly in the last lap. But it’s an engrossing, unusual, imaginatively executed bit of psychological gamesmanship nonetheless.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    I Used to Be Funny
    That convoluted storytelling tack at times threatens to muffle “Funny’s” potent narrative agenda. Yet in the end, this ambitious, imperfect drama does pull off a complex thematic mix.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Dennis Harvey
    The Trials of Muhammad Ali
    It’s an inspiring picture, particularly given the difficulty of imagining one of today’s sports superstars going so far out on a limb for unpopular beliefs.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    The Russian Woodpecker
    Deftly cramming a terrific amount of history, breaking news, personal drama, culture and context into a trim runtime, The Russian Woodpecker is surprisingly inventive, even buoyant in its presentation of several issues that could scarcely be more sobering.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    Neighborhood Watch
    There’s no great effort at building tension, or orchestrating major setpieces. But the narrative moves along at an engaging clip, and there’s a pleasing emotional payoff to the way things ultimately come together in Farley’s screenplay.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    The Dish
    A feel-good comic ensembler that's hard to resist.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
    Mixes satisfying dollops of fun, tears, travel, romance and lesson-learning in a handsome package whose two hours pass faster than many a grownup entertainment.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Dennis Harvey
    American Woman
    American Woman isn’t dull, but the narrative feels more over-stuffed than surprising, and the packaging busy rather than evocative. There’s no unifying directorial tone or stylistic tact to lend the film the symphonic grandeur it sometimes appears to be aiming for.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    Raise Hell: The Life & Times of Molly Ivins
    The late journalist’s career and witticisms are smoothly encapsulated by veteran documentarian Janice Engel’s slick feature.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Dennis Harvey
    My Kid Could Paint That
    The popular human-interest story of a child prodigy becomes an engrossing meditation on truth, media exploitation and the value of art in My Kid Could Paint That.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
    Pic itself is a long haul, at nearly 2½ hours; yet one needn't be a fan of Metallica or heavy metal to be engrossed throughout.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 30 Dennis Harvey
    Linda Linda Linda
    This aimless, lifeless time-killer about four teenage girls prepping for their rock-band gig in a school talent show proves entirely the wrong choice.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
    Bigger, Longer & Uncut will make it harder still to dismiss, or kill, this cultural mini-phenom — not least because the feature is a more clever diversion than anyone had any right to expect.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    Tangerines
    With nearly five-decade screen veteran Ulfsak setting the wry, soulful tenor, Tangerines balances humor and seriousness in deft fashion, its delicacy abetted by all thesps and design contributions.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Dennis Harvey
    The Surrogate
    That writer-director Jeremy Hersh’s debut feature is a screen original surprises, not because it’s “stagy” (though he has written plays), but because its engagingly argumentative virtues aren’t typical for movies anymore, if they ever were.
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