John Hartl
Select another critic »For 544 reviews, this critic has graded:
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52% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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44% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 2.1 points lower than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
John Hartl's Scores
- Movies
- TV
| Average review score: | 64 | |
|---|---|---|
| Highest review score: | The Innocents | |
| Lowest review score: | Drop Dead Gorgeous | |
Score distribution:
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Positive: 340 out of 544
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Mixed: 113 out of 544
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Negative: 91 out of 544
544
movie
reviews
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- John Hartl
Farrow is hilarious when she's aggressively pursuing Mantegna; amusingly dumbstruck when she's fighting off a group of male partygoers (one of the secret potions makes them fall in love with her); and touching when she's trying to reconcile with her sister (Blythe Danner) or sell her lame script ideas to an old friend who works for the networks (Cybill Shepherd). The performance is a triumph of sensitivity to rapid mood swings that stops just short of turning the movie into The Three Faces of Alice. [25 Jan 1991, p.22]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The protests that lead to the overthrow of a president carry hard-to-avoid echoes of recent demonstrations in the U.S.- The Seattle Times
- Posted Jul 13, 2017
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- John Hartl
The most entertaining portrait of a wildly talented, socially untamed filmmaker since The Bad and the Beautiful. [21 Sep 1990, p.28]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
Captivating 1972 adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut's novel, starring Michael Sacks as the time-tripping hero. [09 Jul 1998]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
It's so downbeat that it's not likely to make a dime. Nevertheless, Rush is the most harrowing love story about a couple of drug addicts since the near-classic Panic in Needle Park. [10 Jan 1992, p.21]- The Seattle Times
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- The Seattle Times
- Posted Jun 30, 2016
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- John Hartl
On a visual level, Lumet states this case so well that he doesn't need to hammer it home verbally. [27 Apr 1990, p.3]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
With only a few lapses during its opening scenes, it's a modest, intelligent exploration of the differences that can threaten a genuine attraction between two people. It doesn't soft-pedal the problems, particularly for a young man who already is set in his ways, or an older woman who never will fit in with the social and cultural pretensions of his extended family. [19 Oct 1990, p.31]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The role is built for a tour-de-force performance, and Curtis delivers. [17 Sep 2000]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
Strange Days presents itself as an original vision, yet many of its ideas about the perils of virtual reality were more intriguingly explored in several early-1980s thrillers, among them David Cronenberg's "Videodrome" and Douglas Trumbull's "Brainstorm." [13 Oct 1995, p.F1]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The logistics of this outdoor adventure may not be entirely convincing, but the characters usually are. That's a rarity in this kind of picture, and Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin rise to the challenge with some of the best work they've done in a long time. [26 Sep 1997]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
Doesn't know when to stop with the jokes about other horror movies and settle down to tell a coherent story.- Film.com
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- John Hartl
In any future compendium of film clips from anti-Hollywood satires, Swimming With Sharks will surely be included. Several scenes are so incisive and well-written that they stand out as classics of their kind. [09 June 1995, p.H32]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The script by sports-movie veteran Ron Shelton is an understandable but rather monotonous attempt to deal with the differences between hard truth and media-created mirages.- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The remake is both more romantic and more resonant than the original. It's less of a star vehicle for its leading actor, and it sticks to its guns right down its stunningly orchestrated finish. In almost every way it's an intelligent improvement. [05 Feb 1993, p.3]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
When Frankie and Johnny works, it works because of Pfeiffer, whose impact is cumulative. Pfeiffer finds her own kind of truth in the role, especially in the final scenes, when the character's looks cease to matter. [11 Oct 1991, p.3]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
Bille August, the prize-winning director of "Pelle the Conqueror" and "The Best Intentions," takes on the much-filmed Victor Hugo novel in this sturdy, well-produced nonmusical treatment of the story starring Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush. [05 Nov 1998]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
At its best, White Men Can't Jump gives two talented actresses a chance to shine. At worst, it's just somewhat less coherent and compelling than Shelton's previous work. [27 Mar 1992, p.19]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
It's doubtful that any variation on Finney's story could be called definitive. There's an inexhaustible supply of targets; we could have a new one every year or so. But this one certainly has its creepy moments. [18 Feb 1994, p.D3]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
If you've ever been in a play, you may have a good time at Noises Off anyway. And what stage cast could top this one? Caine has rarely had a chance to display his versatility so entertainingly, Ritter always seems to blossom under Bogdanovich's direction, Elliott finds a surprising variety in his one-note part, while Hagerty makes the most of her oddly appealing brand of hysteria. [21 March 1992, p.C5]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
This is the swiftest, funniest, most lunatic comedy to date from the team that created "Top Secret," "The Naked Gun," "Ruthless People" and "Airplane!" [28 June 1991, p.23]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
Before it finally twists itself into a pretzel in the third act, this paranoid thriller creates a scary mood and allows its leading actors to go all the way with it.- Film.com
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- John Hartl
Earnest, well-acted and occasionally compelling, School Ties gets an A for effort and a C-plus for achievement. At best, it's like a well-mounted, feature-length afterschool special about prep-school anti-Semitism in the mid-1950s. With hate crimes on the rise, it's unfortunately timely now, and its heart is always in the right place. At worst, it's a single-minded exploration of the subject, with too many aspects left untouched. [18 Sept 1992, p.26]- The Seattle Times
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- Film.com
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- John Hartl
Wonderfully confident and strange, Take Me to the River marks an auspicious directing debut for Matt Sobel. There’s not a stale moment in it.- The Seattle Times
- Posted Mar 31, 2016
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- John Hartl
Proudly declaring itself "an irresponsible movie" yet pointedly aimed at politicians who have done little to address a lethal epidemic, Gregg Araki's The Living End is in fact an attempt to make a morally charged statement about the AIDS crisis. [11 Sep 1992, p.03]- The Seattle Times
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- John Hartl
The boy (Osment) has an uncanny ability to suggest Cole's secretive, haunted soul, and he seems to have inspired Willis to give perhaps his most self-effacing performance.- Film.com
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- Film.com
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- John Hartl
An all-star farce about backstage melodramatics at a long-running daytime soap opera, Soapdish has some hysterically funny moments. Unfortunately, its creators don't always sustain the big laughs, or make the most of such supporting players as Whoopi Goldberg and Robert Downey Jr., whose proven comic gifts are mostly hidden this time. [31 May 1991, p.25]- The Seattle Times
Posted Jun 28, 2017 -
- John Hartl
It's a terrific showcase for Richard Gere, Shelley Long, Farrah Fawcett and a number of other actors who almost seemed to have been written off.- Film.com
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