Joe Leydon

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Variety
For 872 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 65% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 31% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 8.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Joe Leydon's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 57
Highest review score: 100 No Greater Love
Lowest review score: 0 Movie 43
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 363 out of 872
  2. Mixed: 380 out of 872
  3. Negative: 129 out of 872
872 movie reviews
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    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Sarah's Oil
    The period detail is impressive, the storytelling is engrossing, and the overall impact is pleasantly enjoyable.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 90 Joe Leydon
    She Rides Shotgun
    Rowland ratchets up the suspense with cunning and confidence, advancing the narrative and introducing secondary characters with suitable swiftness and meticulous precision that never call undue attention to themselves.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Unholy Trinity
    It’s not just a wallow in nostalgia: It also stands on its own merits as a satisfying entertainment that could easily find a receptive audience among folks who’ve never seen, or even heard of, such golden oldies as “Seven Ways from Sundown” or “Gunfight at Comanche Creek.”
    • 59 Metascore
    • 90 Joe Leydon
    Fight or Flight
    Ultimately, it’s extremely doubtful that any of this would work nearly as well as it does without Hartnett at the center of the storm, anchoring the bloody chaos and generating rooting interest with a performance defined by propulsive physicality, industrial-strength enthusiasm and an indefatigable willingness, even eagerness, to repeatedly make himself the butt of the joke.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Comeback Trail
    Some people just don’t have the patience for lead performances that are as broad as a “Yellowstone” barn, and as hammy as a butcher shop specialty. I laughed unashamedly throughout the entire film. But your mileage may vary.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Brave the Dark
    Brave the Dark is a low-key inspirational indie that sensitively elicits empathy and sympathy without ever pushing too hard or simplifying complexities.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    The Critic
    The film is a heady brew of period thriller, compelling melodrama and jet-black comedy, and the second most remarkable thing about it is how seamlessly these diverse elements gel.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Homestead
    The lead characters are well-cast across the board, with Chase and McDonough especially effective as complex, unpredictable characters whose sporadic conflicts go a long way toward developing a rooting interest in both men.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid!
    A revealing and fascinating documentary portrait of James Carville.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Never Look Away
    Never Look Away gives us as complete a portrait as seems humanly possible, for which Lawless merits abundant credit.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Accidental Texan
    Undemandingly entertaining, director Mark Bristol’s well-crafted indie can be savored as a heaping helping of palate-cleansing sherbet, best enjoyed between viewings of bigger and louder but by no means better movies. And yes, that’s meant as a compliment.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 100 Joe Leydon
    Sugarcane
    Sugarcane” is the product of humane and insightful filmmakers who are determined to never let anyone forget, and put their moral outrage to exemplary good use. Still, you’re left with the forlorn suspicion that their best efforts to find justice for the living and the dead, however commendable, are part of a campaign that might be endless.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Outlaw Johnny Black
    The new film nonetheless provides more than a few good laughs, even when it seems to be taking horse opera clichés a tad too respectfully, and showcases a fine cast of actors dedicated to both the silliness and the seriousness of the enterprise.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Surrounded
    An exceptionally well-crafted Western that spins a gripping, racially charged tale of suspicion, deception and survival in post-Civil War New Mexico.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Raging Grace
    Raging Grace strikes a skillful balance of sociopolitical commentary and conventional yet effective spooky stuff, and maintains that equilibrium after Zarcilla flips the script in regard to motivations and assumptions.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    A Disturbance in the Force
    To be sure, the fans will appreciate it a lot more than casual viewers. But it’s also an irresistible hoot for anyone with fond memories of star-studded 1970s musical/variety TV specials.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Evil Dead Rise
    In keeping with “Evil Dead” tradition, there’s also an abundance of bloody mayhem that increases exponentially until a hugely satisfying and splatterific climax.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Linoleum
    Consider this review primarily as an encouragement: Stick around. Your patience will be amply rewarded.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 90 Joe Leydon
    Seriously Red
    Director Gracie Otto’s Seriously Red disarms and delights as a sensationally spirited concoction that neatly balances unfettered outrageousness and unabashed sentimentality.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    High Heat
    High Heat is a hoot. Though it may sound in synopsis like standard-issue genre fare suitable for quick-serve consumption on digital and streaming platforms, this satisfying mashup of crime thriller and dark comedy plays almost like a wink-and-a-nod sendup of such cookie-cutter time-killers.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Paradise Highway
    Gutto demonstrates welcome restraint and a meticulous avoidance of anything that resembles exploitation, relying on indirect yet impactful allusions to keep us constantly aware of the mortal stakes involved. All in all, this is a singularly promising debut for a first-time feature filmmaker.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Facing Nolan
    Its lack of manufactured drama is one of the most engaging things about it, especially if you are a baseball fan who has ever marveled at the miracle that was, and is, Nolan Ryan.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Murder at Yellowstone City
    Director Richard Gray’s well-crafted and handsomely mounted indie is as much a solidly constructed mystery as it is it a conventionally satisfying oater, with much to recommend to fans of either genre who rarely get to sample such a mix.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Wild Men
    The wonderful thing about Wild Men, a movie that suggests a dream-team collaboration of Hal Hartley and the Coen Brothers, is that everyone involved takes themselves extremely seriously, even as they behave and speak in ways that cause viewers who get the joke to smile, chuckle and occasionally laugh out loud.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 90 Joe Leydon
    We Feed People
    [A] technically polished and emotionally stirring close-up view of celebrity chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story
    To paraphrase an admonition from a classic Rolling Stones album: This movie should be played real loud. And in venues where people can, if they choose, get up and dance.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    RRR
    The movie is such an irresistible and intoxicating celebration of cinematic excess that even after 187 minutes (including intermission or, as the title card announces, “InteRRRval”), you are left exhilarated, not exhausted.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Fabulous Filipino Brothers
    It would be unfair to expect an amusing but slight comedy like this one to serve as a substantial political statement. On the other hand, there’s a lot to be said for any movie that reminds us, in a heartfelt but unassuming way, that we are many, but we are one.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    American Underdog
    American Underdog is a thoroughly predictable yet hugely entertaining sports biopic that is bound to please almost anyone who’s not a sourball cynic or a snarky critic.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 80 Joe Leydon
    National Champions
    As timely as last night’s episode of “ESPN Sports Center,” and as riveting as a well-crafted tick-tock suspenser, National Champions adroitly avoids most of the pitfalls common to conventional “message movies” by raising and debating issues in the context of a solid and involving drama that can be enjoyed even by people who couldn’t tell an offside kick from a cheerleader’s cartwheel.
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