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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    • 51 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Mamma Mia!
    The chorus backs the soloists powerfully, and they are as fresh as the rest of the film: fat and fit, homely and handsome, young gods and old codgers – in short, people you might really see in Greece. Reality in a musical? That alone makes it worth your open-eared attention.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Rabbit-Proof Fence
    The rabbits, foolishly introduced to a land that couldn't support them as they bred and dispersed, are symbols of the English: ravenous, unheeding, ineradicable and a constant threat to the native way of life.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Dancer in the Dark
    Can be unbearably moving or annoyingly mawkish, sometimes in the same scene.
    • 89 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Artist
    Talkies may have killed silent movies, the way TV serials and soap operas wiped out radio dramas. But there are stories most effectively told in the old style, and The Artist is proof.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Farewell
    This is a game of numbers, not personalities, and a shrewd man wants the bigger numbers on his side when historians pick up their pens.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Princess and the Frog
    Two things keep the film off Disney's top shelf. First, Naveen is a dull hero; his good-natured vanity isn't engaging until late in the story. Second, Newman's songs are less bland than usual but no more memorable.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    American Beauty
    (Mendes') film debut shows he can shock not only with noise and nakedness but with subtle observations.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Loggerheads
    It's a gentle look at people who cut themselves off from others and realize consequences too late. If Southern Baptists believed in karma, this would be their touchstone.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Others
    The most sophisticated and satisfying ghost story on film since "The Sixth Sense."
    • 62 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Woman in Black
    In rare cases – and The Woman in Black is one of them – a story may be more atmospheric when less is left to the imagination.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Observe and Report
    You can't root for Ronnie. You can't identify with him. You can't hope he gets the girl – any girl. But you may want to look on with stunned fascination as he ticks away, ready to explode.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Est - Ouest
    Picks up steam from the ominous opening scene and ends as a quietly suspenseful thriller.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Everest
    The mountain, grim and unforgiving, remains the star.
    • 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.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Real Women Have Curves
    The film offers an unusually rounded picture of a Latino family. All the men work, getting up early to do blue-collar jobs that demand dedication and responsible behavior. (We don't see much of them, but they have a strong presence in the household.)
    • 65 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    X-Men: First Class
    Most of the actors live their roles, and Fassbender (Rochester in the last "Jane Eyre") is superb as the wolflike, undisciplined assassin.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Zodiac
    Anyone who enjoys the novels of Ed McBain, the Oscar-winning "All the President's Men" or any televised variation of "CSI" will be at home here.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    A Monster Calls
    Bayona understands the forces that bind families together and the ones that tear individuals apart. His real domain is childhood itself, and few storytellers summon its fears and fury so faithfully.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Cider House Rules
    To adapt it for a 130-minute movie, Irving ruthlessly cut away subplots, eliminated supporting characters and pared down the traits of the ones that remain.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Son of the Bride
    Turn a potentially unforgettable movie into a broad crowd-pleaser that sustains itself on three acting performances.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Yi Yi
    Yi Yi is an intimate movie, for all its length and complexity.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Gone Baby Gone
    Gone Baby Gone would be an accomplishment with anyone at the helm; from a first-timer, it's a revelation.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Layer Cake
    Doesn't reveal all its layers until you've taken the last bite.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Look of Silence
    The film moves slowly, yet at exactly the right pace. Long holds on faces let us ponder what’s said and look for visual clues that it may be a lie.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Bourne Supremacy
    Trumping its predecessor with a tauter plot, a lower body count and just as many edge-of-the-seat jolts.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    The Pursuit of Happyness
    My sentimentality meter never went off, and Smith proved what people have forgotten since his breakthroughs in "Where the Day Takes You" and "Six Degrees of Separation" 13 years ago: He's a serious actor.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Minority Report
    The film moves swiftly and unerringly to its conclusion. Spielberg remains under Stanley Kubrick's directorial spell.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    V for Vendetta
    Portman doesn't catch fire until the second half, then heaves herself into emotional action; this suits her initially passive, mostly unthinking character. Weaving, who acts entirely with his voice, is V's ideal embodiment: witty, rueful, pitiless, visionary and mad.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    X-Men
    Balances brains, brawn and heart in ideal proportions. The actors - some first-rate, all enjoyable - never get overshadowed by the special effects, which dazzle us without gory excess.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 88 Lawrence Toppman
    Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    The most thoughtfully satisfying of the first six books.
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