Tom Dawson

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Total Film
For 62 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 43% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 51% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.7 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Tom Dawson's Scores

  • Movies
  • TV
Average review score: 70
Highest review score: 80 Greatest Days
Lowest review score: 40 Paris-Manhattan
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 62
  2. Mixed: 24 out of 62
  3. Negative: 0 out of 62
62 movie reviews
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    • 47 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Greatest Days
    A vibrantly choreographed, credibly acted Brit-musical propelled by a stream of Take That bangers.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Mountain
    Tracing how the world’s peaks came to be viewed as playgrounds, it needs to be seen on the big screen for its vertiginous images of high-altitude adventurers.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Glory
    Shot with doc-style immediacy, it expertly builds to a shocking climax.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Beach Rats
    This dreamily shot US indie is an insightful study of sexual repression and awakening, featuring a compelling lead performance from Brit newcomer Dickinson.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    In Between
    The film reveals how patriarchal values clash with the desires of its female characters to lead more emancipated lives.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    My Journey Through French Cinema
    [Bertrand Tavernier] pays heartfelt tribute to the directors, stars and composers who ignited his passion.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Risk
    Director Laura Poitras (Citizenfour) charts her own feelings towards her subject, yet unanswered questions abound surrounding WikiLeaks’ alleged connections to Donald Trump’s campaign.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    After Love
    Joachim Lafosse’s drama is an unsentimentally observed, credibly acted study of a marriage turned sour.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Stockholm, My Love
    Occasionally rambling, it’s kept afloat by an eclectic soundtrack and Christopher Doyle’s striking urban lensing.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    The Wedding Plan
    Kooler convinces, but it feels like TV sketches, with not enough laughs.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Graduation
    Masterfully filmed in long takes, this slow-burner lays bare a world of systemic corruption.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    All This Panic
    Avoiding the pitfalls of prurience and sensationalism, this dreamily photographed film reveals its young subjects to be vibrant and articulate individuals.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    13 Minutes
    This stiffly scripted film never quite stirs the emotions.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    I Am Bolt
    It’s not the most probing doco, but the man himself, mobbed wherever he goes, emerges as a genuinely charismatic, likeable individual.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Incendies
    Expertly shifting between present and past , writer-director Denis Villeneuve displays an impressive command of his material, patiently building up to an emotionally explosive climax.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    McCullin
    McCullin emerges in David and Jacqui Morris’ accomplished film full of integrity, dignity and empathy.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Nostalgia for the Light
    Drawing on the testimonies of some fascinating interviewees, and filled with dazzling digital images of galaxies and landscapes, it’s a film that makes you ponder the mysteries of human existence anew.
    • 38 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Underdogs
    Impressively designed throughout, The Unbeatables also keeps the laughs kicking.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Archipelago
    In long, static takes, Hogg calmly exposes the gulf between polite facades and repressed resentments.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    The Players
    Greater female input might have alleviated the film’s tiresome chauvinism.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Like Father, Like Son
    Although a bit over-neat in its contrasts between the respective families, Like Father, Like Son remains an affecting film, thanks to Fukuyama’s understated turn and Koreeda’s typically graceful visual storytelling.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Pandora's Promise
    The director paints a partisan picture, but offers an eloquent and effective challenge to orthodox eco-wisdom.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Paradise: Hope
    Against the odds this is a sometimes droll and surprisingly tender affair, and a fitting end to Seidl’s magnum opus.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Love Tomorrow
    Writer/director Christopher Payne paints a credible portrait of life as a professional hoofer. But the leads struggle with an undernourished script, and there’s a cheapo televisual vibe throughout.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Gloria
    Sticking tightly to its heroine’s everyday routines and rituals, this deft blend of humour and pathos fully earns its defiantly upbeat dance-floor denouement.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Child's Pose
    The restlessness of the camerawork may drive you to distraction, but director/co-writer Calin Peter Netzer’s film is held steady by Gheorghiu’s staunch performance.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Museum Hours
    Blurring documentary/fiction boundaries, writer/director Jem Cohen’s film is deceptively simple.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Populaire
    No prizes for guessing who ends up with whom, but the colourful retro designs and the leads’ sparkling chemistry help to Tipp-Ex over some of the predictability.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Paradise: Faith
    Laying bare his characters, Seidl uncovers the doubt beneath the armour of religious belief.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    Paris-Manhattan
    Sophie Lellouche’s slick debut is chock-full of Woody-com quotes and references, yet it remains an inconsequential, undernourished trifle that does sod-all with its potential.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Paradise: Love
    Though it covers similar thematic ground to Laurent Cantet’s haiti-set "Heading South," Seidl’s gruelling film proves his knack for leaving viewers emotionally discomfited.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    The Prey
    Sweeping landscape shots and the reliable presence of Sergi López, here playing a scarred private investigator, can’t distract from the clichés of a particularly dim-witted script.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    London - The Modern Babylon
    You’re left marvelling at London’s capacity for renewal and reinvention.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    White Elephant
    Writer/director Trapero arguably crams too much into the film’s running time, but potent turns and Michael Nyman’s yearning score are among the compensations.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Reality
    The film belongs to Arena, outstanding as a man growing ever more delusional in his quest to acquire celebrity status.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Beyond the Hills
    Arduous yet always absorbing, Cristian Mungiu’s first full-length feature since 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days is inspired by a real-life case of a tragically botched exorcism in rural Romania.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Caesar Must Die
    “Ever since I discovered art,” laments one participant, “this cell has truly become a prison.”
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Lore
    This oblique and understated tale of lost innocence conveys both an individual’s experiences and a powerful sense of a ruined nation.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Yossi
    This is a perceptive, warm-hearted work, anchored by Knoller's impressively less-is-more performance.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Keep the Lights On
    Keep The Lights On feels lopsided in its focus on Erik, with Paul remaining a strangely remote object of the former's romantic devotion.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 40 Tom Dawson
    Café de Flore
    Beneath the surface panache lies an overlong, emotionally shallow study of so-called 'twin flames', possible reincarnation and learning to let go of love.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Elena
    Backed by a sparing Philip Glass score, Elena eloquently shows how, in modern Russia, even family relationships are at the mercy of business.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Sister
    The strong supporting gallery - including Gillian Anderson and Martin Compston - feels underused, but Meier and her ace DoP Agnès Godard make shrewd use of the dramatic alpine locations.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    The Big Picture
    Built around a multilayered performance from Duris, it's a film unafraid to pose more questions than it answers.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    The Green Wave
    Heartfelt and inventive, this documentary from exiled director Ali Samadi Ahadi chronicles Iran's abortive Green Revolution during the summer of 2009.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Beloved
    Alex Beaupain's songs effectively convey emotion, but Beloved doesn't scale the heights of the Truffaut and Demy films it pastiches.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Eames: The Architect & The Painter
    Thorough if workmanlike documentary.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    Undefeated
    Familiar territory, especially if you've seen "Hoop Dreams" and "Friday Night Lights," but the intimate style offers its own rewards.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    The Woman in the Fifth
    Contrived attempts to 'explain' the film's many mysteries ultimately disappoint.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Corpo Celeste
    With echoes of the Dardennes and Lucrecia Martel, Corpo Celeste's acute sense of place, feel for adolescent confusion and miraculous resolution suggest that Rohrwacher is a talent to watch.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Goodbye First Love
    Some will find Camille too self-absorbed, yet writer/director Mia Hansen-Løve (Father Of My Children) conjures poignancy, grace and a feel for symbolic seasonal change that's positively Renoir-esque.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Post Mortem
    This is a chilling portrayal of a deeply unsympathetic protagonist.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Le Havre
    Kaurismäki adeptly weaves rockabilly musical interludes, a stylised colourscheme and droll performances into a warm-hearted salute to both classical French cinema and working-class solidarity.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    This Is Not a Film
    Drawing on revealing clips from Panahi's previous films, TINAF reveals not only the realities of artistic censorship, but its firework-laden finale shows how cinema thrives on spontaneity.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
    Closer in metaphysical spirit to Kiarostami than to Leone, it lingers thanks to beautifully lit widescreen images of lived-in faces and barren, beautiful landscapes.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    La Piscine
    An intriguing forerunner to François Ozon’s Swimming Pool, it’s languidly paced and elegantly lensed, though its prize asset is Delon/ Schneider’s sexual sizzle.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    The Nothing Factory
    Blurring the fiction/documentary lines (it features non-professional actors), it’s spiced with eccentricities.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Scarecrow
    It’s strong on the details of itinerant life, and allows plotting to take a back seat to character.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Ferrari: Race to Immortality
    Blending archive footage, contemporary interviews and dramatic reconstructions, the film reminds us how dangerous the sport could be.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    Daughters of the Dust
    Drawing on their traditions of oral storytelling, it’s lushly photographed and costumed, plus dreamily confusing, yet it vividly brings a past to life.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Tom Dawson
    The Party
    Enjoyably acted by a fine ensemble cast, it crisply skewers the hypocrisies of its left-liberal, middle-class characters.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Tom Dawson
    The Odyssey
    An attractive if conventional biopic of French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau.

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