Christian Science Monitor's Scores

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For 4,492 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 55% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 43% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 67
Highest review score: 100 'Round Midnight
Lowest review score: 0 Couples Retreat
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,780 out of 4492
  2. Mixed: 1,361 out of 4492
  3. Negative: 351 out of 4492
4492 movie reviews
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  1. A Guy Thing
    The bad thing about A Guy Thing isn't the talent of its stars but the warmed-over triteness of the material they're forced to work with.
  2. Kangaroo Jack
    Hop away from this one fast!
  3. Divine Intervention
    Divine Intervention is the "Dr. Strangelove" of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, bringing barely acknowledged fears to the surface so they can be understood.
  4. City of God
    In its cinematic approach, though, the film is as slick as any Hollywood thriller, directed by Fernando Meirelles with visual flourishes - jazzy editing, lurid colors, crackling sound effects - that dilute the impact of what might have been an indelible cautionary tale.
  5. Crimson Gold
    It's a troubling, courageous, compulsively watchable work of art.
  6. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
    A glistening gem among caper movies, this impeccably elegant jewel-heist drama takes its title from Buddhist lore, its cast from France's great gallery of leading men, and its style from the unique blend of cinematic savoir-faire and brooding existential angst.
  7. The Son
    It combines a fresh and exciting style with stunning performances and that rarity in current film, a deeply humanistic story.
  8. The Slaughter Rule
    This well-acted melodrama paints a convincing portrait of its Montana milieu, and its best scenes suggest real insights into the paradoxical attitudes toward masculinity and sexuality that American men often feel compelled to assume.
  9. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
    Clooney shows strong filmmaking imagination in his directorial debut, but the movie's driving force is Charlie Kaufman's screenplay, a genre-bending romp that blurs all boundaries between the factual and the fantastical.
  10. Love Liza
    Hoffman's acting is poignant and compassionate, etching a profoundly sad character with no trace of compromise, and Bates gives one of her most controlled performances ever.
  11. Chicago
    The trouble with Chicago is the sense it conveys that nothing is really at stake -- there's no moral or ethical question that can't be turned into toe-tapping fun.
  12. The Pianist
    Has a sense of emotional urgency and deep-dwelling grief.
  13. Max
    Reveals a key aspect of fascism's cynical use of art and architecture to mesmerize a weak and vulnerable society.
  14. Nicholas Nickleby
    It's an uneven film, but Dickens admirers shouldn't miss it.
  15. The Hours
    Kidman, Moore, and Streep do some of their best work, backed by a first-rank supporting cast.
  16. Catch Me If You Can
    Spielberg's directing is a tad less tricky than usual, but he doesn't have much talent for psychological suspense, which is the heart of the story. DiCaprio underplays nicely and Walken is superb as the con artist's downtrodden dad.
  17. The Wild Thornberrys Movie
    Lively characters, snappy dialogue, and snazzy visuals make this an uncommonly fine animation.
  18. Morvern Callar
    Morton acts up a storm, and Ramsay continues her rise as England's hottest young female filmmaker.
  19. Two Weeks Notice
    Bullock is cute. Grant is even cuter. They have the timing and panache of a first-rate comedy team.
  20. Narc
    The movie is designed to show off Liotta's acting skills, but pointless mayhem and sheer nastiness crowd out any virtues it might have had.
  21. Gangs of New York
    The movie is strong in sound and fury, weak in nuance and insight.
  22. Spider
    Arguably the subtlest, most carefully textured film of Cronenberg's career.
  23. Antwone Fisher
    Although it's touching and sincere, Washington's directorial debut is weakened by a too-slow pace and a story that offers few real surprises.
  24. 25th Hour
    The movie is flawed by implausible psychology and moments of weak acting. But it's more than redeemed by Lee's passionate ideas about America today.
  25. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
    Most moviegoers will leave buzzing about the climactic Battle of Helm's Deep. But in my eyes, this is Gollum's show more than anyone else's, even the special-effects wizards behind the scenes.
  26. Pellet
    This drama has won an armload of international prizes, including multiple honors in Spain's equivalent of the Oscar race, marking Mañas as a director with a bright future.
  27. The Guys
    A very well-meaning movie, and it will stand in future years as an eloquent memorial to the World Trade Center tragedy.
  28. Maid in Manhattan
    A pleasant experience, if not the dazzling entertainment Lopez fans were hoping for.
  29. Evelyn
    The facts of this true-life story are highly dramatic, and they'd have much more power without the sappy sentimentality Beresford needlessly adds to the movie.
  30. About Schmidt
    Nicholson makes the movie so poignant that it's hard to resist, but I wonder if Payne and Taylor are rejecting the skeptical attitudes of their other films to become more popular, hoping a softer emotional tone will help this picture win the Oscars that have eluded their more tough-minded works.
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