Ken Jaworowski

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The New York Times
For 170 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 47% higher than the average critic
  • 14% same as the average critic
  • 39% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 1.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Ken Jaworowski's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 67
Highest review score: 90 On Her Shoulders
Lowest review score: 20 Antibirth
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 112 out of 170
  2. Mixed: 53 out of 170
  3. Negative: 5 out of 170
170 movie reviews
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    • 42 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Breaking In
    With an overbearing score, Breaking In telegraphs almost everything that happens yet still provides several jolts amid its occasionally questionable twists. While the filmmakers aren’t exerting themselves to deliver anything other than a popcorn-seller, Ms. Union is working hard to keep you watching.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Mully
    Mr. Mully’s actions speak for themselves, and his robust personality makes him a pleasure to listen to. If the film doesn’t always dig deeply into this man’s life, we still see the results of his efforts. Those are enough to admire.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Romeo Is Bleeding
    The portraits drawn of these young people frequently feel half-finished.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Goyo: The Boy General
    Jerrold Tarog, the director, follows the same game plan as he did in “Heneral Luna,” with sweeping music and proud speeches (he wrote the script with Rody Vera). There are also some nice images of the lush Philippine countryside and of del Pilar’s troops.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Indian Point
    Ms. Meeropol is steadfast in providing both sides of the story. That’s admirable, yet it can come across as uninvolving.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    To Be of Service
    Though To Be of Service skips over specifics, the big picture is clear, and its overriding point well made: These dogs are saving the lives of those who’ve sacrificed so much. Every person profiled here deserves an immense amount of respect. Every animal, too.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Wrestling Jerusalem
    Sometimes the effort here is more admirable than exciting.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson
    There are several strong stories in The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, a documentary that, in trying to tell them all, takes on too much.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War
    Defying the Nazis: The Sharps’ War is a generic documentary about two people who were anything but. Yet even when the film wanes, its subjects still come across as remarkable.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    500 Years
    Heavy with emotion yet light on information, 500 Years has the curious effect of being both passionate and pale. You may find yourself championing its subjects even while feeling confounded by the omission of details by its filmmaker.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Chasing Portraits
    Chasing Portraits is small and subtle, with some missed opportunities and occasionally inexpert filmmaking. But it’s not an insignificant effort, and Ms. Rynecki’s cause is admirable.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    (T)error
    Because of its shortcomings, (T)error serves as evidence of a broken system rather than an indictment of it. Yet such evidence is worrisome and points to a threat to civil rights.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Reinventing Rosalee
    If you can look past the low-grade production values — and to do that you’ll need two awfully forgiving eyes — Reinventing Rosalee delivers a few rewards, thanks to its vibrant subject and her noteworthy life.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    All the Rage (Saved by Sarno)
    All the Rage overrides most of its shortcomings by keeping a breezy tone and by showing Dr. Sarno to be a convincing speaker, as well as an affable and somewhat crusty character.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Pavarotti
    This is a film too enamored of its subject to pry very deeply. And yet, it’s hard not to be enamored as well, as Pavarotti’s larger-than-life personality shines in almost every scene.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Family in Transition
    Trainin’s film spends a good deal of its running time surveying the emotions that affect everyone here, including the Tsuk children. Yet there’s quite a bit left unexplored; after the start, the director rarely returns to examine Amit’s past or seek insights into Amit’s inner self.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Bikini Moon
    Bikini Moon is better in separate scenes than as a whole, where Manchevski’s overreaches and plot lapses become more glaring. In this film, the harshest truths — make that “truths” — are best served in small doses.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    The Sentence
    By making you feel deeply for his sister and her children, Valdez has fashioned his film to make the lapses less glaring.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    The Current War: Director's Cut
    As its energetic early scenes give way to a sluggish second half, you start to sense how much better this good-enough movie might have been.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Burden
    This is a film unafraid to look at [Burden's] acts, but timid when approaching his ideas.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Rabin in His Own Words
    The obvious problem with its subject-says-all approach is the lack of outside voices and perspective. This is a broad summation of the man, not a critical look at his policies.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Ali and Nino
    Asif Kapadia, the director (whose film “Amy” won an Oscar for best documentary), has a fine eye for splendor, as does Gokhan Tiryaki, his cinematographer. Mr. Kapadia’s sense of pacing isn’t as acute.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Vincent N Roxxy
    The cast members remain dedicated to their brooding roles as the script admirably reaches for emotions it only sometimes captures.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Bridgend
    Everything’s in service of the images in Bridgend, a stylishly shot, eerily scored and moodily acted film that wants for nothing but a plot. Depending on how you like your movies, this is either a walkout or a must-see.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Blood Stripe
    While this worthy film sidesteps clichés — there are no horrid flashbacks or emotional speeches — its spareness occasionally feels planned rather than spontaneous. After a powerful first half, later scenes offer diminishing returns.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Ken Jaworowski
    Department Q: The Absent One
    The Absent One finds Mr. Kaas as watchable as before, though a few well-intentioned attempts to lighten up his character — an orphaned cat is brought in, a speech about his motivations is given — are clumsily executed, and instead divert from his terse and magnetic personality.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Ken Jaworowski
    I Think We're Alone Now
    A haunting first half can’t offset the absurd ending of I Think We’re Alone Now, a post-apocalyptic tale with a late plot twist that feels as if it comes out of left field. And right field. And center field, the stands and the dugout, too.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Ken Jaworowski
    Foreign Land
    In place of some kind of discovery there is mostly lamentation. That may be a valid response to events in Israel, but it’s not always a good way to engage a viewer.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Ken Jaworowski
    Stray Bullets
    Mr. Fessenden’s ambition is admirable, and there’s more than a little raw skill on display. If this, his first feature, isn’t always worth recommending, his talents are certainly worth encouraging.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 50 Ken Jaworowski
    Rock in the Red Zone
    Rock in the Red Zone has its best moments when it explores the anxiety of Sderot’s residents and their endurance. It’s the strongest topic here, and the one you’re most sorry to see interrupted when the film inevitably switches over to something else.
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