Los Angeles Times' Scores

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For 16,524 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 6% same as the average critic
  • 38% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 63
Highest review score: 100 Sand Storm
Lowest review score: 0 Saw VI
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8,698 out of 16524
  2. Mixed: 5,809 out of 16524
  3. Negative: 2,017 out of 16524
16524 movie reviews
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  1. The Crime of Padre Amaro
    The remarkable things about the new film, adapted by Vicente Leñero and directed by Carlos Carrera, are how smoothly it has been transposed to today's Mexico and how far good acting and skillful directing have gone toward tempering those melodramatic roots.
  2. Pushing Tin
    It's an intriguing film, one of the year's most interesting, but involving as much of it is, it leaves an unsatisfied taste when it's over.
  3. The Ballad of Bering Strait
    What makes the story worthwhile is the candor and personality of the band members.
  4. Atlantis: The Lost Empire
    Story line and characterization are decidedly old-fashioned, and a curious decision about production design gives this wide-screen cartoon some of the look and feel of a Saturday morning TV cartoon series
  5. Billy Elliot
    In its determination to overdo sure-fire material, Billy Elliot becomes as impossible to wholeheartedly embrace as it is to completely reject.
  6. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
    However caricatured a vision of female empowerment, Lara Croft exercises an irresistible tug not just on the adolescent male imagination but the 12-year-old female imagination as well.
  7. A Perfect Murder
    A Perfect Murder begins better than it ends, and the pleasures it offers turn out to be more of a transitory nature.
  8. The Pledge
    A forced march toward certain disaster, a scenario only passionate believers in predestination are likely to savor.
  9. Finding Forrester
    Even fairy tales could use a bit more substance than this.
  10. Fantasia 2000
    Grainy as it looks in its massive Imax blowup, Mickey's misadventures with water and a broom still have the kind of magic even modern technology can't always manage.
  11. The Medallion
    Chan defies time and gravity with remarkable energy, ease and resourcefulness, not to mention charm and humor. He even gets away with a nude scene, not bad for man who turns 50 in April.
  12. Jet Lag
    Minor whimsy of a film.
  13. Baby Boy
    At once too neat and too messy, but films like this are too rare to leave it at that. Ragged but ambitious, it retains a core of genuine emotion -- this picture is doing the best it can, and although that may not be everything, it ought to count for something.
  14. La Femme Nikita
    Like the movies its modeled after, it's shallow, frequently silly. But there's something about the mix--maybe something about Parillaud as the screechy, dangerous Nikita--that may make the movie a powerful engine of wish-fulfillment. [12 Apr 1991, Calendar, p.F-10]
    • Los Angeles Times
  15. One from the Heart (re-release)
    Francis Ford Coppola has reworked somewhat and meticulously restored his ambitious 1982 romantic musical fantasy One From the Heart, out of circulation for more than 20 years, but for all his efforts it stubbornly remains a bold experiment in style and technique that doesn't work.
  16. Sylvia
    Aside from Paltrow's performance, Sylvia is neither a film so spectacular it shouldn't be missed nor something so tepid you have to stay away.
  17. Apt Pupil
    Despite the riveting performances of Renfro and McKellen, we're left with classic horror-movie sociopaths, evil-doers without conscience, or much to say about the nature of evil.
  18. Apollo 13
    Self-conscious about its heroism with portrayals that lean toward the glib and the professionally uplifting, the film milks our sympathies too readily to be emotionally convincing.
  19. Idle Hands
    What Idle Hands lacks in originality, it makes up for in energy and insolence. It takes guts for a movie to indulge as much as this one does in proto-hippie humor and you find yourself tickled, in spite of yourself, by the movie's nerve, if not its jokes.
  20. Dark Blue
    Sensitively directed by Ron Shelton and helped by what just might be the best performance of Kurt Russell's career, Dark Blue is as interesting and successful as it can be within its limits, but those limits make this a more generic film than its makers intended.
  21. The Deep End of the Ocean
    Ends up insisting on pat and overly tidy resolutions that are at variance with the emotional chaos it's nominally attempting to convey. [12 March 1999, Calendar, p.F-1]
    • Los Angeles Times
  22. Dark Blue World
    As it stands, Dark Blue World -- for all the considerable skills of the Sveraks and their colleagues on both sides of the camera -- occupies that treacherous territory between art film and popular epic.
  23. Men of Honor
    Leaves you wanting to know more, and that's not a bad thing.
  24. The Legend of Bagger Vance
    So meticulous in its craftsmanship and so earnest in its storytelling that it feels both physically and spiritually airbrushed.
  25. The Player
    Even when Griffin has a heart of stone, Tim Robbins is lacking in the knid of ice-cold magnetism that allows a thorough bastard to hold the screen like nobody's business. [10 Apr 1992]
    • Los Angeles Times
  26. Two Men Went to War
    The middle sections go a bit slack at times, and things wrap up a little too neat and quickly, but overall Two Men Went to War entertains and recalls the type of British period comedy that more regularly appeared here before everything seemingly began to strive for "Full Monty"-sized box-office returns.
  27. The Hunted
    What keeps you watching isn't the story or the actors, none of whom are at the top of their form, but the relentlessness of Friedkin's vision. The film has great forward thrust -- Friedkin's a full-throttle guy -- and the director knows where to put the camera.
  28. One Hour Photo
    All too predictably, as if obeying some rule of genre, the director trades in his more involved ideas about alienation and voyeurism for an eruption of violence, then tags on some nonsense about marital fidelity.
  29. The Visual Bible: The Gospel of John
    Though it has loftier aims, it is in reality strictly a film made by believers for believers. It's like the Discovery Channel version of the Greatest Story Ever Told, an earnest, not particularly distinguished piece of work that has none of the touch of the poet that made Pasolini's "The Gospel According to St. Matthew" such a triumph.
  30. In My Skin
    Spectacularly grotesque and literally nauseating, even for this usually intrepid moviegoer, In My Skin is among the more disturbing films in this blood-drenched cinematic season.
  31. Diamonds
    A heart-tugging comedy-adventure that's in the spirit of the holiday season.
  32. Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
    Despite its good intentions, Spirit is more self-conscious and uninspiring from a dramatic point of view than one might have wished. Still, whenever it threatens to get bogged down in earnest dramaturgy, a stirring visual sequence -- rouses us.
  33. Calendar Girls
    Closer in texture and consistency to individually wrapped American cheese than good, tangy English cheddar. But even humble plastic-wrapped cheese has its virtues and so does this film.
  34. Tadpole
    The witty coming-of-age film is marred by an uneven, digitally shot look, a disservice to its first-rate cast.
  35. Wild Wild West
    The film sacrifices playfulness and humor to concentrate on a relentless display of elaborate but ho-hum gadgets and gizmos.
  36. Luster
    Has a charming, skittish quality, and Lewis finds pathos and humor in his characters' often painful search for love.
  37. Antitrust
    It is ultimately more routine than provocative, despite the timeliness and seriousness of the issues it raises.
  38. Beefcake
    An illuminating and engrossing look at the life and times of pioneer Los Angeles physique photographer Bob Mizer
  39. The Man in the Iron Mask
    Heavy on swordplay and spectacle, it's so intent on reviving the costume epics of the past it doesn't realize it's trying to be too many things to too many people until it collapses under its own weight.
  40. Prey for Rock & Roll
    Some of what happens feels real, a lot doesn't, but even when the screenplay groans with clichés, the four lead actresses play their parts with truckloads of heart.
  41. In the Company of Men
    A one-trick pony, a movie that has a gift only for making audiences squirm.
  42. Die Hard
    As a grand flourish of cinematic technique, it is awesome; as a human drama, it is disgusting and silly, a mindless depiction of carnage on an epic scale. [15 July 1988, Calendar, p.6-1]
    • Los Angeles Times
  43. Together
    The result is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser that will strike Chen's admirers as a heartfelt but decidedly minor effort.
  44. The Princess Blade
    With its stylized, near-surreal comic-book look and roots, The Princess Blade has all the makings of a cult film.
  45. A Few Good Men
    The film's plot...is more contrived than creditable, motivations are not always clear, and some characters, for instance Kiefer Sutherland as a praise the lord and pass the ammunition Marine, are not very convincingly acted. [11 Dec 1992]
    • Los Angeles Times
  46. Music of the Heart
    A lot of heart and a lot of music. It just doesn't sing.
  47. Venus Boyz
    It is clear that these individuals have exercised considerable courage and determination to sort out their sexual natures and to be true to them. They have the sturdy sense of human survivors, and in Venus Boyz Baur regards them with compassion and dignity.
  48. How to Deal
    Works up some genuine emotion offset by occasional humor and creates individuals of a certain degree of complexity, but the film is glazed over with an aura of artificiality.
  49. Stigmata
    Essentially a late-'90s MTV version of "The Exorcist," a half-serious, half-silly piece of business that keeps us involved despite (or maybe because of) being more than a little overdone.
  50. Best Laid Plans
    A fine mood piece with lots of atmosphere and boasts terrific performances from its stars.
  51. Shooting Fish
    Not as inspired or amusing as it might be, leans heavily on the considerable charm of its three young and attractive principals. Their charisma and the film's larky spirit, English locales and elaborate cons might be just enough to divert easily satisfied date-night audiences.
  52. Confidence
    Does have a large and capable cast and, in James Foley, a director with a taste for visual flourishes. They all so fell in love with the script by Doug Jung they didn't notice how much a derivative retread it is of superior material like "The Grifters" and even "The Sting."
  53. Rugrats Go Wild
    The number of characters makes Rugrats Go Wild somewhat bulkier than its less complicated predecessors, but fans are not likely to mind.
  54. The Scorpion King
    The movie itself is a live-action cartoon, a fast-moving and cheerfully simplistic 88 minutes of exaggerated action put together with the preteen boy in mind.
  55. What a Girl Wants
    Works well enough. It has a decided plus in its appealing young star, Amanda Bynes, last seen opposite Frankie Muniz in "Big Fat Liar."
  56. Slums of Beverly Hills
    It feels like a vague, upscale knockoff of "The Beverly Hillbillies," and Jenkins' eagerness to please with class-conscious jokiness often comes at the expense of her solid underlying issues.
  57. Varsity Blues
    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.
  58. Love the Hard Way
    It's too little Grier too late, but it's also fairly satisfying to watch.
  59. Amistad
    What saved "Schindler's List" from this self-conscious nobility was the ambiguity of Oskar Schindler's personality and Spielberg's willingness to treat incendiary material coolly. The lesson he seemed to have learned there, that the strongest stories call for the greatest restraint, is one he has at least partially forgotten here.
  60. The X Files
    With its shrewd mixture of paranoia and the paranormal, the way its elaborate mythology combines enigmatic phenomena with potent cabals intent on running the world, The X-Files experience resembles "Twin Peaks" crossed with "The Twilight Zone."
  61. The Transporter
    The plot doesn't rate as high as the quality of the bodies in fast, furious motion. What counts in The Transporter isn't the wafer-thin story about smugglers -- it's the way Martin kicks open a door, fends off a couple of axes and uses a perfectly ordinary sport shirt as a weapon.
  62. High Crimes
    The problem with High Crimes, acceptable though it is, is that it's not close to anyone's best work.
  63. American Chai
    Perceptive, good-natured movie.
  64. Life or Something Like It
    Amiably glossy if naggingly old-fashioned.
  65. The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra
    As deliberately silly as the film is, it is very knowing and carefully thought out.
  66. The Horse Whisperer
    Robert Redford, who for the first time stars in a movie he's also directed, has taken this soap opera material and treated it like something inscribed on yak vellum by the Dalai Lama.
  67. Orwell Rolls in His Grave
    Enlightening, at times disturbing, and always provocative, but Pappas manages to end with a glimmer of hope.
  68. Orange County
    Starts out deliriously funny but allows sentimentality to squeeze it to a pulp by the time it's over.
  69. Johnson Family Vacation
    An easygoing, earthy comedy that's a good showcase for the robust comic gifts of Cedric the Entertainer.
  70. Angel Eyes
    Adds up to a carefully crafted romantic drama of considerable insight and emotional impact that provides Lopez an acting challenge she meets with ease.
  71. The Wedding Planner
    The picture is never less than pleasant -- but it's not more than that often enough.
  72. Left Luggage
    Becomes disarmingly warm and even a little folksy at times, but Edwin de Vries' script proves devastatingly deceptive.
  73. Summer of Sam
    A glum and unpleasant experience, caught between what it wants to do and how it has chosen to do it.
  74. The City of Lost Souls
    There's enough atmosphere, mayhem and just plain energy to make the film a viable midnight movie.
  75. Love Object
    Parigi -- who's clearly made a close study of Alfred Hitchcock's obsessions and has watched a fair share of intelligent horror perched between cheekiness and Grand Guignol (think "Re-Animator") -- succeeds nicely.
  76. The Independent
    Unashamedly silly, inevitably erratic, it has so much fun sending up the world of exploitation filmmaking that even the most serious film student won't be able to suppress a laugh or two. Maybe even more.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Joe the King
    Antisentimental to a fault.
  78. Smilla's Sense of Snow
    Though enlivened by occasional touches, "Smilla's" is like the food at Taco Bell: exotic only to someone who hasn't experienced the real thing.
  79. Kiss Me, Guido
    If Tony Vitale's Kiss Me, Guido isn't quite the laff riot its trailer suggests, it nonetheless abounds in good-hearted humor, adding up to a perfectly pleasant summer diversion.
  80. A Beautiful Mind
    There is more to admire in A Beautiful Mind than you might suspect, but less than its creators believe. When the film does succeed, it almost seems to do so despite itself.
  81. Six Days Seven Nights
    An acceptable star vehicle, no better or worse than it should be, a well-worn standard diversion that gets the job done without eliciting either howls of fury or paroxysms of delight.
  82. Little Nicky
    The kindest thing that can be said about Sandler's sense of humor is that it's unapologetically juvenile.
  83. Jurassic Park III
    The sheer physical presence of these creatures is much more believable and convincing than what can be generously characterized as the film's plot.
  84. Chasing Liberty
    The film means to be an unpretentious, engaging romantic comedy but stretches its charm awfully thin with a 110-minute running time.
  85. Close Your Eyes
    Sometimes a movie's charm materializes where you least expect it and in this particular case it emerges in the unlikely form of Henderson's character, Scotland Yard detective Janet Losey.
  86. The Rage: Carrie 2
    Dares to take a different tack, taking its young people seriously in a more realistic context. If ever there was a director ready to graduate from genre films, it surely is Shea. [12 March, 1999, Calendar, p.F-6]
    • Los Angeles Times
  87. Tomorrow Never Dies
    Veteran director Roger Spottiswoode has tried to pep the old warhorse up, but the combined inertia of all those pictures over 35 years proves hard to budge.
  88. The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
    It would be dishonest to deny that Jade Scorpion has amusing moments, but it never gets better than that and often settles for less.
  89. Guinevere
    We have a right to yawn, but we don't, and Sarah Polley is the reason.
  90. Two Girls and a Guy
    A small movie with some big moments and a lot of unfinished business.
  91. Radio
    A gentle film yet develops increasing dramatic tension beneath its easygoing, fair-minded surface.
  92. The Shape of Things
    Unfortunately, this film is not as convincing as LaBute's first feature ("In the Company of Men"), for it betrays its origins in the theatricality of its dialogue, resulting in an aura of artificiality.
  93. Casa de los babys
    There is often not enough space for all these personalities to truly play out. They tend to become types rather than people, representatives of classes and points of view more than individual human beings.
  94. Better Than Sex
    It's a good thing Better Than Sex, which is pretty raunchy and absolutely not for prudes, does have more than sex on its mind, because otherwise audiences might be tempted to dismiss it as a tease.
  95. Brother Bear
    Does have a satisfying ending and it's nice to see a G-rated film without bathroom humor, but there is too much formula and not enough reason to pay attention here.
  96. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
    A sweet-natured romantic comedy that's easy viewing but could have used a little more energy and a little less unalloyed niceness to put it over with more punch.
  97. The Ice Storm
    As frigid as its name. Burdened with a story of some of the world's least interesting people going through a holiday crisis, director Ang Lee and screenwriter James Schamus get as close as any creative team could to making matters involving, but the task is finally too much for them.
  98. Drowning Mona
    With a hilarious script and capable cast, the film puts a clever spin on the everyone-is-a-suspect plot.
  99. Entrapment
    While the film glistens a bit now and again, a closer look reveals you've been diverted not by a diamond but by a genuine synthetic zircon.
  100. Moog
    Fjellestad exhibits a playful adoration for the man and the otherworldly sounds of his machine in an intriguing rendering of one of music technology's seminal figures.
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