Philadelphia Inquirer's Scores

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For 4,176 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 70% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 27% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 3.3 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 68
Highest review score: 100 Hell or High Water
Lowest review score: 0 The Mangler
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,145 out of 4176
  2. Mixed: 682 out of 4176
  3. Negative: 349 out of 4176
4176 movie reviews
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  1. The Secret Life of Pets
    In much the same way that the smash "Zootopia" demonstrated that creatures of different culture and class and species are better off when they come together, The Secret Life of Pets is a testament to teamwork and friendship and fixing the rifts that divide us. Let the fur - and the warm, fuzzy feelings - fly.
  2. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues
    No manner of bizarre distraction can keep Anchorman's hapless hero from his mission: "I'm going to do what God put Ron Burgundy on this earth to do," he declares. "Have salon-quality hair and read the news!"
  3. Cool It
    It is at its best when examining alternative sources of energy and how their development has consistently been thwarted by the energy industry.
  4. Broken English
    As a director, Cassavetes is a keen observer of character and social interaction but not yet much of a visual stylist (which might also describe the improvisational dramas made by her actor/director father, John).
  5. White Oleander
    Stronger on character than on story, the film version of Janet Fitch's best-seller is shaped and propelled by the astonishing performance of Alison Lohman.
  6. Matchstick Men
    Overall, Matchstick Men, which is based on the novel by Eric Garcia, is more memorable for Lohman's naturalistic acting and Scott's mannerist direction than it is for its O. Henry surprise.
  7. The To Do List
    The To Do List is sex-obsessed, to be sure, but it's a chick flick, too. And in what it says about women (or girls) and men (or boys) and what they want, maybe it's a movie for us all.
  8. Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson
    Robert Altman's droll 1976 deconstruction of a western icon with Paul Newman in peak form. [12 May 2001, p.E01]
    • Philadelphia Inquirer
  9. Star Maps
    A promising filmmaking debut, Star Maps defines a landscape where everyone has a dream - and where a lot of people will do a lot of things to achieve that dream, however misguided and delusional it might be. [22 Aug 1997, p.10]
    • Philadelphia Inquirer
  10. Stuart Little
    Doesn't have the exuberant inspiration or seamless, polished dazzle of "Toy Story 2," but if the latter is sold out at the multiplex this weekend, the mouse is a passable substitute.
  11. Goya in Bordeaux
    Triumphs by taking an elliptical approach that still reaches directly into the very core of genius.
  12. Lucie Aubrac
    Achieves the rare feat of fusing tightly ratcheted suspense with intense romance.
  13. Taking Sides
    Boy, can Harvey Keitel be bad -- and not bad like "Bad Lieutenant," bad like bad acting.
  14. Frida
    A dynamic portrait of an artist by an artist, one as wry, audacious and erotically charged as its flamboyant subject.
  15. One
    A worthy subject is poorly executed.
  16. The Soloist
    The tone of The Soloist is wildly uneven. Though unsparing and unsentimental when framing the principals, Wright is hyperbolic when depicting the agitation of the mentally ill and the soothing rapture of music.
  17. Ladies in Lavender.
    A wistful little thing about regret, jealousy and love.
  18. Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
    Take the flat tire that was "Madagascar." Retread it with "The Lion King" storyline. Pump it up with air. Now you have Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.
  19. The Weather Man
    The Weather Man belongs to a school of earnest, artsy Hollywood flicks that includes the Michael Douglas-goes-bonkers "Falling Down," and a lineage that goes back to revered 1970s pics like "Five Easy Pieces."
  20. Blackthorn
    Watching Shepard work his pony down a snaking mountain pass, playing a mandolin and singing the blues, or seeing him sitting, stone-still, beneath a railroad water tank, waiting for something to happen - these are scenes to be cherished, from an actor who has found the soul of the character he's playing.
  21. Traitor
    Don Cheadle, wiry and wired, delivers an electrifying performance in Traitor.
  22. A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas
    Think of it as"Airplane"! with controlled substances.
  23. Blue Crush
    That's what Blue Crush is getting at: girls going for the gold in a sport that's traditionally been the domain of men.
  24. Beijing Bicycle
    Wang's young actors are impressively natural, and his documentary-style camerawork captures the rhythms and cacophony of the big city, all its crazy-quilt comings and goings.
  25. Welcome to Collinwood
    Funny and not-funny, slapstick and slapdash, Welcome to Collinwood is a seriously uneven caper comedy in which a bunch of really fine character actors get to act really, really silly.
  26. Laurel Canyon
    Cholodenko takes us inside a bohemian hive where everyone buzzes around the Queen Bee. McDormand is superb. Likewise Bale and Nivola.
  27. Capitalism: A Love Story
    With mixed results, Moore singles out those who profit from the misery of American workers.
  28. Secretariat
    The result, if occasionally forced, is also irresistible.
  29. She's So Lovely
    She's So Lovely means to be a parable of the inextricability of mad love and madness, a longtime obsession of the elder Cassavetes. Only in Penn's performance does it begin to grasp its elusive goal. [29 Aug 1997, p.03]
    • Philadelphia Inquirer
  30. Wah-Wah
    The fascinating aspect of the rambling and involving film is how Ralph and this no-nonsense dame who married Dad become confederates.
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