Philip Kennicott

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Washington Post
For 45 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 26% higher than the average critic
  • 8% same as the average critic
  • 66% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.5 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Philip Kennicott's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 61
Highest review score: 100 Peter Hujar's Day
Lowest review score: 20 Manderlay
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 45
  2. Mixed: 16 out of 45
  3. Negative: 6 out of 45
45 movie reviews
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    • 46 Metascore
    • 20 Philip Kennicott
    Manderlay
    Even the basic look of the film -- it was filmed on a stage with every shot set against a bleak, dark backdrop -- underscores the filmmaker's position as master manipulator, in a laboratory, looking down at his mice running through his maze.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Philip Kennicott
    The Death of Mr. Lazarescu
    It's long, but it's also very real and worth every minute.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    Watchmen
    Watchmen is a bore. Sad to say, after a wait of more than two decades, the much-anticipated adaptation of the world's most celebrated graphic novel is long, dull and subject to what might be called the "Lord of the Rings" problem: It sinks under the weight of its reverence for the original.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Philip Kennicott
    La Vie en Rose
    Cotillard leaves you loving her Piaf, wishing you could reach through the screen and steer her life a bit differently.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Philip Kennicott
    My Winnipeg
    Maddin has called his new film a "docu-fantasia," and it's an apt label for an entirely idiosyncratic mix of local myth and history, dubious science, salacious gossip, personal rumination and endless camp humor.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    A Jihad for Love
    The director raises the question that haunts the whole film: Who should feel shame: gay Muslims or the Muslims who oppress them?
    • 61 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    Drawing Restraint 9
    Sad to say, the new Matthew Barney opus, Drawing Restraint 9, made in collaboration with his main squeeze, Bjork, doesn't advance the Barney oeuvre an inch past where he left it with his massive, megalomaniacal opus known as the "Cremaster" series.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Philip Kennicott
    The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
    If a few decent actors play their roles and defend their turf, it doesn't matter how preposterous the whole proposition is.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Philip Kennicott
    Disgrace
    Is it a great movie? John Malkovich's portrayal of an aging and sexually aggressive professor of poetry is enough to make the film worth anyone's while.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    I.O.U.S.A.
    There is a difference between the importance of a film's subject and the quality of a film's execution. And the execution is lacking. The film just isn't, well, very interesting.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 70 Philip Kennicott
    Departures
    It is as polished as it is heavy-handed, and it leaves one under a spell.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 60 Philip Kennicott
    Madea Goes to Jail
    Both slapstick and social drama, and it is certainly the most confident mix of the two that Perry has managed to achieve with this particular part of his vast media franchise.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    Casino Jack and the United States of Money
    Gibney's documentary strains to make sense of the minutiae without losing the audience's attention over its formidable, two-hour length.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Philip Kennicott
    In the Loop
    Tremendous fun at times, especially in its vicious power plays and betrayals. But it has no redeeming value beyond entertainment.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 50 Philip Kennicott
    Marley & Me
    There are three fine performances lost in this otherwise middling film. Alan Arkin makes a wonderfully gruff newspaper editor who does just about as much barking as Marley. Jennifer Aniston makes the most of the rather slender figure of Jennifer Grogan, creating a believably human picture of a career woman who gives it up for the kids. And then there's the dog that plays Marley.
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