Donald Clarke

Select another critic »
The Irish Times
For 560 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 53% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.2 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Donald Clarke's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 Son of Saul
Lowest review score: 20 Sonic the Hedgehog
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 283 out of 560
  2. Mixed: 256 out of 560
  3. Negative: 21 out of 560
560 movie reviews
view
per page
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    Late Shift
    Night Shift does not go for full-on social realism. One wealthy patient comes across as something of a cliche. The details of Floria’s eventual meltdown would be more at home in a medical soap than in a film that, elsewhere, strives for rigorous representation of working practices. But Benesch carries us compellingly through those narrative convulsions to an ending that makes an epic of the everyday.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Donald Clarke
    The Piano Lesson
    The interaction between these fine actors – John David Washington, the director’s brother, continues his rise – keeps the production tasty even as, in later stages, it gives into something like desperation.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    Hallow Road
    Few so economical features – 80 minutes, with only three significant characters – have had such unsettling fun in the dark, dark woods. Don’t let it slip you by.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Donald Clarke
    Tenet
    All this delicious incident has the makings of a gung-ho entertainment – Ian Fleming as mounted by Nasa. Unfortunately that’s not what we get. Even if we were brave enough to try, we would not be capable of spoiling a plot so wilfully obtuse it demands repeat viewings to disentangle.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    The Deepest Breath
    The copious talking heads fail to open up the intellectual wiring required to derive pleasure from an activity that invites submarine asphyxiation. What we do get is lucid explanation of the sport’s mechanics and satisfactory celebration of two impressively unstoppable personalities. A smart buy for the streamer.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    One Life
    One Life breaks no new cinematic ground. But it tells a story worth hearing. And it allows an indisputable great one more chance to show us what he can do.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    The Outfit
    It remains, nonetheless, a pleasure to see a good yarn played out in such professional fashion. Just try not to think of the awful pun in the title.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    Cha Cha Real Smooth
    Raiff is brave enough to not give us all we desire from the story. He accommodates a star in the ensemble cast without allowing her to unbalance the character dynamics. But the film is a tad too obtuse to capture the attention of awards voters. Oddball here wins out over mainstream.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Donald Clarke
    Thunderbolts*
    Thunderbolts* works best as a jokey romp at home to tolerable quips amid mounting chaos.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Donald Clarke
    Deerskin
    Dupieux is flogging no message. He’s inviting us to take risks on a ride that is as unpredictable as it is spooky. And it’s all done in under 80 minutes. There is nothing else like it out there.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 20 Donald Clarke
    Deep Water
    Nobody looks to have helped Affleck get to grips with the author’s signature sociopath and, rather than appearing coldly ruthless, this cuboid-headed anti-hero comes across as a bored man queuing for an uninteresting clerical formality.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Donald Clarke
    F1: The Movie
    F1 really is too thuddingly familiar for words. Drop a bowling ball off a cliff and you would be less sure of its trajectory.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »