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 8.7 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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    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Chef
    The final destination is entirely predictable — right down to the deus ex machina reappearance of an erstwhile antagonist — but the trip itself is never less than pleasant, and often extremely funny.
    • 30 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
    A faster, funnier follow-up in which CGI-enhanced canines and felines effect a temporary truce to combat a common enemy.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Ice Age
    An entertaining story that, while not terribly original, is sufficiently arresting and often laugh-out-loud funny.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Starving the Beast
    Starving the Beast repeatedly sounds cautionary notes that escalate to the level of fretful alarms. And yet, for all that, the movie never seems shrill or didactic.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Suicide Kings
    A smart and snappy drama tinged with dark humor and brimming with self-confidence.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Olympic Dreams
    An engagingly wistful dramedy.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Room 314
    Pic feels like a cross between an anthology of ambiguous short stories and a string of acting-class exercises. Thesping is first-rate across the board.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Coda
    A deliberately paced and stealthily involving saunter through familiar territory.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    March of the Penguins
    Sometimes harrowing, sometimes hokey, sometimes heartwarming nature documentary.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Operation Dumbo Drop
    A well-crafted and entertaining pic with broad, cross-generational appeal.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story
    The documentary adroitly sustains interest with a standard-issue mix of archival material, interviews with intimates and admirers, actors’ voiceovers and dramatic re-creations.
    • 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.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    My Flesh and Blood
    One leaves My Flesh and Blood with admiration for the lenser's craftsmanship, and for her ability to remain an unobtrusive observer during moments of extreme emotional turmoil.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Step Up
    Fresh cast, a formulaic but engaging storyline, and a smoking soundtrack from rap and hip-hop luminaries.
    • 34 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    My Best Friend's Girl
    Manages to distract auds from the predictability of the plot with fusillades of profanely funny dialogue and some playfully sexy chemistry generated by Cook and Hudson.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Four Brothers
    With equal measures of rock-the-house vigor and in-your-face attitude, Four Brothers proves usually potent and consistently enjoyable as an old school approach to what might best be described as the urban-Western genre of slam-bang, balls-out action-revenger.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Ultimate Gift
    Although cynics likely will reject The Ultimate Gift as warmed-over Capra-corn, this predictable but pleasant drama based on Jim Stovall's popular novel may be prized by those with a taste for inspirational uplift and heart-tugging sentiment.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Oswald's Ghost
    Oswald's Ghost impresses as a concise, intelligent and rigorously well-researched piece of work.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Detour
    It may be tempting, and not entirely inaccurate, to describe Christopher Smith’s Detour as “Sliding Doors” reimagined by Quentin Tarantino, but this cleverly twisty neo-noir thriller turns out to be more substantial and surprising than such logline shorthand might suggest.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Beauty Shop
    A sunny and sassy comedy that somehow manages to breathe fresh life into familiar stereotypes and stock situations.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Big Kill
    A film made by people who respect its genre too much to be condescendingly clever, but embrace it so heartily that they want you to know that, yes, they’ve seen the same movies you have, and enjoy them just as much as you do.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Touched With Fire
    Potent performances by stars Katie Holmes and Luke Kirby, strong contributions by well-cast supporting players and an overall sense of understated verisimilitude offset the predictable aspects of the narrative.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Conan O'Brien Can't Stop
    The biggest laughs and most intriguing revelations are provided offstage in this slickly produced documentary, as O'Brien -- often pushing himself to the point of exhaustion before, during and after performances -- plays for keeps while playing for laughs.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Heart of the Game
    Compelling but traditional feature.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Highwaymen
    Lean, mean and stripped for speed, Highwaymen fires on all cylinders as an edgy and unnerving road-kill thriller.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans
    Ultimately, Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans comes across as a portrait of the artist as a spoiled jerk, albeit a jerk whose charisma cannot be denied, and whose artistic ambitions elicit grudging admiration.
    • 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.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    The Outsider
    Trace Adkins looms large in a dark and brooding sagebrush saga with a healthy dose of Spaghetti Western fatalism.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Ride the Eagle
    The movie’s seriocomic consideration of how messy familial, sexual and professional relationships can be should have a well-nigh universal resonance.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 70 Joe Leydon
    Jab Tak Hai Jaan
    Even by the freewheeling, mood-swinging standards of Bollywood, the pronounced disparity between the pre- and post-intermission halves of Jab tak hai jaan is more than a tad jarring. Indeed, viewers may feel they've been treated to an oddly matched double bill -- a delightfully vivacious romantic dramedy, followed by an Old Hollywood sort of psychological melodrama.
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