Varsity Blues
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: January 15, 1999 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
50
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
The movie is also brisk and wholehearted and smarter than you expect. Read full review
70
The New York TimesStephen Holden
A paint-by-numbers story that offers no surprises and a hero and villain etched in white and black with few shades of gray. Read full review
70
Washington PostMike Musgrove
This flick has modest ambitions, but it delivers the goods in a fresh manner. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Unfortunately, Voight is not in every scene, and, when he's absent, Varsity Blues has a tendency to flounder, descending into the realm of formulaic sports movie melodrama. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneJohn Petrakis
If you are willing to overlook the occasional missed block, clumsy tackle or dropped pass, there is more than enough in Varsity Blues to keep you engrossed. Read full review
60
New Times (L.A.)M.V. Moorhead
Originally, somebody may have wanted the film to be a serious exploration of the dark side of high school sports, but it ended up as just one more sports picture. Read full review
60
Film.comTom Keogh
It is an ostensibly serious story about being young and struggling to wrest control over one's life from the hands of fools, yet it doesn't behave like a serious drama that wants to lead us anywhere.
60
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director Brian Robbins ("Good Burger") and screenwriter W. Peter Iliff ("Prayer of the Rollerboys") have wrapped their moral fable in a glossy package of hard football action and towel-slapping, hard-body fun that might seem exciting if you've never seen a movie before. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Its depiction of teenage behavior appears calculated to seem irreverent while satisfying expectations. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesJohn Anderson
A trashy little movie about drinking, football and drinking, is also one of those films that pretends to moralize about the very behavior it milks for every giggle it can get. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
We are aware going in that Varsity Blues' cannot be a landmark of world cinema. Yet working within the tired formula, the picture turns out to be not so bad. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A movie that doesn't buy into all the tenets of our national sports religion; the subtext is that winning isn't everything. Read full review
50
Film.comRobert Horton
Eventually fizzles out badly.
50
Film ThreatRon Wells
It is not quite as stupid as it looks. I'm not saying it ISN'T dumb, though, just not as bad as I think even the studio thought. Read full review
50
NewsweekTed Gideonse
A flat, cliched film in a flat, cliched genre. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineSandra Contreras
This coming-of-age drama scores big points for trying to honestly tell a story rather than just pass the time. Read full review
40
VarietyJoe Leydon
An unappetizing mix of raucously vulgar comedy and teen-angst melodrama. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Its vague stabs at moralizing and goofball shenanigans are an odd mix. It's not the high school experience I had, nor is it probably like yours. Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerCraig Marine
Half-comedy, half-coming-of-age movie with another half or so of sports film and maybe another quarter of soundtrack that adds up to 175 percent of a bad movie. Read full review
25
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story is mildly entertaining in its hackneyed way, but there's no excusing the picture's exploitative treatment of almost all the female characters. Read full review
More From This Movie

50 Critic Reviews

7.5 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL