Rolling Stone's Scores

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For 4,534 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 56% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 41% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 0.6 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 65
Highest review score: 100 The Wolf of Wall Street
Lowest review score: 0 Joe Versus the Volcano
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,923 out of 4534
  2. Mixed: 982 out of 4534
  3. Negative: 629 out of 4534
4534 movie reviews
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  1. The Passion of the Christ
    Powerfully moving and fanatically obtuse in equal doses. The typical star rating doesn't apply, because scenes range from classic to poor and all stops in between.
  2. Against the Ropes
    Critics and audiences should unite to KO this loser.
  3. Welcome to Mooseport
    A comedy so devoid of wit and point that not mentioning the other actors trapped in this rathole would be an act of charity.
  4. 50 First Dates
    It's a kick to see the adorably sexy Barrymore back in relaxed form again after the "Duplex" debacle and that calamitous "Charlie's Angels" sequel. Right now, she's the closest thing to sunshine you'll find at the movies.
  5. Miracle
    You keep rooting for the team, mostly because director Gavin O’Connor (the terrific Tumbleweeds) cast real athletes instead of actors, a canny decision that pays major dividends when the big game is re-created.
  6. Barbershop 2: Back in Business
    It’s feels like the New Puritanism (recently repped by the outcry over Janet Jackson’s "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl) is seeping in. But in the barbershop? Say it isn’t so.
  7. The Dreamers
    The Dreamers may go slack when you most want it to soar, but it also seduces with eroticism and resonates with ideas.
  8. The Big Bounce
    Except for a rare scene of shaggy charm, nothing works. Nothing.
  9. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
    The actors, especially Grace, fight hard against a schizoid script (the kids are rubes one sec, hipsters the next) and cotton-candy direction from Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde). It's a losing battle.
  10. The Butterfly Effect
    Nothing can save this repetitive bore. Dude, where's your memory?
  11. Made-Up
    Pointed and hilarious.
  12. My Baby's Daddy
    Diapers, even from three babies, can't stink worse than this.
  13. Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer
    Shocking and indispensable viewing.
  14. Chasing Liberty
    Lacks the active verb it promises. It defines blah.
  15. Japanese Story
    Tsunashima is superb, and a never-better Collette (The Sixth Sense, About a Boy, The Hours) has a radiant intensity that hits you right in the heart. She burns this movie into your memory.
  16. The Company
    Altman, showing the ardor and assurance of a master, pulls us into his film with seductive power. You won't want to miss a thing.
  17. Paycheck
    The title of this limp retread of "Minority Report" -- both films are based on stories by Philip K. Dick -- presumably refers to the reason the big names involved did this movie.
  18. Cold Mountain
    The specter of war haunts Cold Mountain, but you remember it for the heat of its romantic yearning and the mysteries that wrap themselves around you until you're lost in another world.
  19. Peter Pan
    Despite a hint that Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and Wendy (Rachel Hurd-Wood) might get it on, there's nothing to crow about.
  20. Monster
    There's Theron, like a force of nature, compelling us to go beyond TV-movie supposition and look Wuornos straight in the eye. Her raw and riveting performance makes Monster an experience you won't forget.
  21. The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara
    It will knock you for a loop like no other movie this year.
  22. Mona Lisa Smile
    "Irritating" doesn't begin to describe Julia Roberts as Katherine, an art-history prof who arrives at Wellesley in 1953.
  23. House of Sand and Fog
    Before it runs off course into excess, this brilliantly acted film version of the 1999 novel by Andre Dubus III moves with a stabbing urgency.
  24. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
    This is a film in which ideas resonate as well as action. Gandalf’s words to Pippin about death have a muscular poetry.
  25. The Statement
    Jewison dodges the issues in the script by Ronald Harwood (The Pianist) to focus on cat-and-mouse chases that kill interest.
  26. Something's Gotta Give
    In an era of dumb farce, Something's Gotta Give is something special.
  27. Girl with a Pearl Earring
    Near the end, when Griet puts on that earring and Johansson magically morphs into the figure on that canvas, you'll be knocked for a loop.
  28. Big Fish
    Director Tim Burton finally hooks the one that got away: a script that challenges and deepens his visionary talent.
  29. The Last Samurai
    When the script, by Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz and John Logan, doesn't sabotage the images, and the great cinematographer John Toll turns action into poetry, The Last Samurai emerges as a haunting silent movie.
  30. The Cooler
    Wayne Kramer, who co-wrote the scrappy script with Frank Hannah, makes a potent directing debut and strikes gold with the cast.
  31. The Triplets of Belleville
    It's comic, touching and a visual knockout.
  32. In America
    An emotional wipeout.
  33. Bad Santa
    If you've had it with all that feel-good holiday sludge, hook up with the combustibly nasty Bad Santa. It could become a Christmas perennial for Scrooges of all ages.
  34. 21 Grams
    You won't see more explosive acting this year.
  35. Gothika
    Stupefyingly stupid thriller.
  36. The Barbarian Invasions
    It's a feast of smart, sexy, glorious talk. The Oscar for best foreign film belongs right here.
  37. The Cat in the Hat
    Talk about your quick-buck exploitation.
  38. The Missing
    Even Cate Blanchett can't save this misbegotten horse opera.
  39. Tupac: Resurrection
    Lazin's remarkable achievement is to catch Tupac in the act of discovering himself. It's something to see.
  40. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
    Crowe -- fierce, funny and every inch the hero -- gives a blazing star performance.
  41. Elf
    Ferrell makes the damn thing work. Even though he can't get naked or use naughty words, there's a devil of comedy in Ferrell, and he lets it out to play. Director Jon Favreau has the good sense to just stand out of his way.
  42. Love Actually
    Curtis ladles sugar over the eager-to-please Love Actually to make it go down easy, forgetting that sometimes it just makes you gag.
  43. The Matrix Revolutions
    At the risk of understatement, The Matrix Revolutions sucks.
  44. Die, Mommie, Die!
    Hotly hilarious.
  45. Shattered Glass
    The film never digs deep enough into the pressures on Glass from his family, his peers and himself to achieve psychological depth. But as an inside look into the hothouse of journalism, it's dynamite.
  46. The Human Stain
    The Human Stain is heavy going. It's the flashes of dramatic lightning that make it a trip worth taking.
  47. Radio
    There's no arguing that Cuba Gooding Jr. is trying to do right by the mentally disabled James Robert Kennedy.
  48. Elephant
    To those who see no purpose to this film, I say the purpose is learning not to turn a blind eye. The unique and unforgettable Elephant keeps its eyes wide open.
  49. In the Cut
    The result, sadly, is a mess.
  50. Sylvia
    Paltrow looks glam even in death, which only supports the notion, raised by Plath’s daughter Frieda Hughes, that the movie would be about a "Sylvia Suicide Doll." Good call.
  51. Veronica Guerin
    Cate Blanchett is the spark that keeps this well-meaning but by-the-numbers biopic going.
  52. Runaway Jury
    Hackman and Hoffman, old pals in their first film together, make a lively business of their one scene together -– in a toilet, no less. The rest you can flush.
  53. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
    Chainsaw is produced by Michael Bay (Bad Boys I and II), which explains its soullessness. But nothing explains the flaw in this bad boy: How can a movie scare you when you’ve seen it all before?
  54. Pieces of April
    Holmes nails every laugh without missing the dramatic nuances. She makes April and her movie well worth knowing.
  55. Intolerable Cruelty
    Near the end of this smart, speedy romantic farce, the comic engine hits a wall and sputters. Until then, this Coen brothers film -- easily their silliest -- is fueled by a screwball fizz that keeps the laughs popping.
  56. Kill Bill: Vol. 1
    In Kill Bill, Tarantino brings delicious sin back to movies -- the thrill you get from something down, dirty and dangerous.
  57. Mystic River
    Clint Eastwood pours everything he knows about directing into Mystic River. His film sneaks up, messes with your head and then floors you. You can't shake it. It's that haunting, that hypnotic.
  58. Out of Time
    It's a kick to watch Denzel Washington do a movie just for the hot, sexy fun of it.
  59. The Station Agent
    The three actors could not be better. Huge feelings are packed into this small, fragile movie. It's something special.
  60. Wonderland
    Character gets sacrificed for just another true-crime drama.
  61. School of Rock
    Even education can't kill the demon of fun in Black. Enroll in his class and you won't stop laughing.
  62. The Rundown
    The Rock has a flair for action and comedy; he's a real movie star.
  63. Under the Tuscan Sun
    Just soak up that Tuscan sun and wonder when Lane will get another movie, like "Unfaithful" or "A Walk on the Moon," that will let her really shine.
  64. Cold Creek Manor
    It's sad to see risk-taking director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas, Hotel) do a generic thriller for a paycheck and then not even screw with the rules.
  65. In This World
    Without an ounce of phony Hollywood uplift, Winterbottom's film cuts right to the heart.
  66. Anything Else
    Because Allen hasn't lost his knack for slapstick with a sting, Anything Else hits its mark more often than not.
  67. Casa de los babys
    The film feels more like a thesis than vivid drama.
  68. Underworld
    "Your incompetence is most taxing," says the chief vampire (Bill Nighy). A line that pretty much nails this rusty Blade.
  69. Matchstick Men
    Credible? Not really. But Cage and Rockwell play off each other with devilish finesse. And Lohman (White Oleander) is on fire -- she's a comer.
  70. Cabin Fever
    First-time director Eli Roth turns this cheapie into a greatest-hits of horror. It's a blast of good gory fun that just won't quit.
  71. Lost in Translation
    Don't stall about seeing Sofia Coppola's altogether remarkable Lost in Translation. It's a class-act liftoff for the fall movie season. Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson give performances that will be talked about for years.
  72. Once Upon a Time in Mexico
    You don't want to miss Depp in this movie -- he knocks it out of the park.
  73. The Order
    It's "The Exorcist" warmed over.
  74. Party Monster
    Feels fake, forced and indigestible.
  75. Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star
    Spade goes sweet and gooey. This is nucking futs.
  76. Thirteen
    Brace yourself for Thirteen -- it'll cause a commotion.
  77. American Splendor
    Not your typical biopic. But it is one of the best times you'll have at the movies this year.
  78. Open Range
    Open Range copies the rain and flood of the Clint Eastwood classic but can't match it for dark-night-of-the-soul brilliance.
  79. Le divorce
    Acted with relish by a note-perfect cast -- a romantic comedy of true sophistication. There's a sting in every laugh.
  80. Step Into Liquid
    The best surfing documentary ever made. And that includes 1966's "The Endless Summer" and its terrific 1994 sequel -- both from Bruce Brown, Dana's father.
  81. S.W.A.T.
    What we have here is a model for the paint-by-numbers, perfectly generic, proudly soulless summer action flick. An original idea would die for lack of oxygen in S.W.A.T.
  82. The Secret Lives of Dentists
    Scott and Davis could not be better. You're in for something special.
  83. The Magdalene Sisters
    Mullan errs by making all the sisters dragon ladies. Still, the film gets to you; it's a powerhouse.
  84. American Wedding
    This third hunk of Pie is a worn-out gross-out, a remnant of a genre that now seems so five minutes ago.
  85. Gigli
    The only people likely to get a kick out of Gigli -- the first screen teaming of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez -- are Madonna and her director hubby Guy Ritchie. Finally there's a movie as jaw-droppingly awful as their "Swept Away."
  86. Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life
    Even sex can't save a film that produces instant narcolepsy.
  87. Buffalo Soldiers
    Adapting Robert O'Connor's novel, director Gregor Jordan slaps us with keen wit and purpose.
  88. Seabiscuit
    Unabashedly hokey, but would you want it any other way? In an era of cynical junk (did anyone say “Bad Boys II”?), Ross restores the good name of crowd-pleasing.
  89. Camp
    The modestly perfect antidote to a synthetic, overblown movie summer: a blast of exuberant fun that stays rooted in humanity.
  90. Masked and Anonymous
    It's only when the film attempts to express its ideas in spoken English that logic dissolves into a muddle that would test the most rabid Dylanologist.
  91. Johnny English
    Aussie singer Natalie Imbruglia gets to play the babe, nothing more, but she does that brightly. The rest of the movie is a dim bulb.
  92. How to Deal
    The pop diva goes down with the bubbles in this hopelessly shallow soap opera.
  93. Dirty Pretty Things
    Fueled by gripping suspense, dark humor and outraged humanity, the film is a modern horror story that means to shake you, and does.
  94. Bad Boys II
    Bad Boys II has everything. Everything loud, dumb, violent, sexist, racist, misogynistic and homophobic that producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay can think of puking up onscreen.
  95. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
    Except for Connery, who is every inch the lion in winter, nothing here feels authentic.
  96. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
    Depp swans through this swashbuckler with a scene-stealing gusto unseen since Marlon Brando in "Mutiny on the Bounty." He's comic dynamite, but this plodding, repetitive bore should walk the plank for timidly refusing to light his fuse.
  97. Swimming Pool
    It's Sagnier, a young Bardot, who lifts the movie, and Rampling, 58, who gives it nuance, not to mention a nude scene that shows off a body Demi Moore would envy. These two make it seductive fun to be fooled.
  98. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
    May lack the mythic pow of the 1984 original and the visionary thrill of T2, but it's a potent popcorn movie that digs in its hooks and doesn't let go until an ending that ODs on apocalyptic hoo-ha.
  99. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
    There's not enough here to sustain a half-hour sitcom, but Reese Witherspoon shoulders the burden with star shine to spare.
  100. Friday Night
    A mesmerizing erotic odyssey.
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