Lawrence Toppman

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Charlotte Observer
For 1,622 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 0.7 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Lawrence Toppman's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 Down in the Delta
Lowest review score: 0 Left Behind
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,064 out of 1622
  2. Mixed: 275 out of 1622
  3. Negative: 283 out of 1622
1622 movie reviews
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per page
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Lawrence Toppman
    Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
    The writing is self-consciously literary in a way that probably worked better on the page.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    The Emperor's New Groove
    Why is The Emperor's New Groove Disney's funniest animated movie in years? Because it's the least like a Disney animated movie.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 100 Lawrence Toppman
    Prisoner of Paradise
    Its uniqueness lies in its juxtaposition of happy faces and unhappy realities, of fleeting expressions of art and culture undone by daily brutality.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Freaky Friday
    This is the first real family comedy I've seen in a long time: one honest enough to satisfy teens, wryly funny enough for adults and zany enough for little kids.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Thirteen
    Despite Hunter's terrific acting, the mom seems too unaware.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Lawrence Toppman
    Curse of the Golden Flower
    I can say only three good things about his latest martial arts picture, the incoherent The Curse of the Golden Flower: 1) Gong Li deserves better roles, 2) The costumes are astonishingly beautiful, and 3) Ummm...wow, how about those costumes!
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Meet the Patels
    This story of a guy looking for love in many of the wrong places turns out to be one of the happiest surprises of the movie year.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    Doubt
    Blessedly, the kernel of the writing remains undisturbed, and its arguments are still powerful.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    The Hoax
    Wheeler and director Lasse Hallstrom don't want us to take anything too seriously.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Going Upriver: The Long War of John Kerry
    It's obviously meant to help his presidential candidacy - why release it a month before the election, otherwise? - and for the first 7 minutes, it plays like a campaign commercial about young John's integrity, hard work and humble roots.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 91 Lawrence Toppman
    Song of the Sea
    Moore makes no attempt at visual reality. The colors and drawings employ the flat design of a handsomely decorated book, and the children have the huge eyes, disproportionately large heads and small bodies you sometimes see in Japanese animation.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    21 Grams
    Despite juggled storytelling, the movie's compelling.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    The Lady in the Van
    If you want a glimpse of a damaged mind and a thorough look at an artist’s healthier psyche, you’ll be satisfied.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 38 Lawrence Toppman
    L'Auberge Espagnole
    Movies can certainly be worse than bad sitcoms, and this is one of them.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    Contagion
    Though the movie short-changes us emotionally, it delivers a credible, disheartening picture of greed and panic.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 63 Lawrence Toppman
    Cinderella Man
    The performances do shine out through this dramatic miasma.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    Bad Santa
    An unrepentantly rude, anti-seasonal dish of malice and mischief. Director Terry Zwigoff works from a story that originated with the Coen brothers and passed through at least four writers, including him...The results may leave you aghast or breathless with laughter, but you won't be neutral.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Fearless
    Li plays haughty, brilliant wushu master Huo Yuanjia, whose recklessness leads to tragedy after he becomes a champion at the end of the 19th century.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 75 Lawrence Toppman
    No Country for Old Men
    The Coen brothers have never really accepted the idea that a movie has to have a plot. Offbeat characters, sure. Oblique dialogue that sounds meaningful and occasionally is so, absolutely. Eye-catching cinematography and a subtle, mood-reinforcing soundtrack, no question. Irony layered on thickly as cheese in good lasagna, yes. But a narrative that makes sense from end to end? Well, one doesn't have room for everything.
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