The A.V. Club's Scores

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For 10,422 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 46% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2.6 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 62
Highest review score: 100 Badlands
Lowest review score: 0 A Life Less Ordinary
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,575 out of 10422
  2. Mixed: 3,739 out of 10422
  3. Negative: 1,108 out of 10422
10422 movie reviews
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  1. Virgil Bliss
    First-time director Maggio has two enormous assets in his lead actors. It's just a shame that he betrays them with a silly ending that does much to diminish their efforts.
  2. Man on the Train
    Though an assured and diverting piece of filmmaking, Man On The Train sags from complacency, rarely breaking its neat construction to animate the friendship with any real warmth and life.
  3. Cuban Rafters
    Balseros doesn't fully measure up to Michael Apted's work because of the dingy quality of its video-to-film transfer, as well as flaws inherent to a project that started as one type of documentary and ended up as another--namely, that the filmmakers didn't ask enough of the right questions in the first two installments to make the third fully connect.
  4. Looney Tunes: Back in Action
    With the exception of its bland leads, Back In Action's frenetic plot serves as its biggest weakness, but it at least provides the framework for two Tashlin-worthy setpieces.
  5. 50 First Dates
    Dull and sappy, though anyone who finds Sandler dreamy should love it.
  6. Bang Rajan
    The action, while busy, never produces much excitement, particularly since Thanit never gives the audience any reason to care about the characters, beyond their underdog status.
  7. Anger Management
    Doesn't possess the discipline to peel laughs off its potentially riotous premise. Instead, Segal and company grope desperately for every low gag they can find, whether or not it has anything to do with the story.
  8. Barbershop 2: Back in Business
    Intermittently funny, and at times even affecting, but its drama veers into soap-opera territory, and its comedy too often reeks of sitcom laziness.
  9. Snow Dogs
    Snow Dogs never comes close to transcending its own inherent silliness, but Coburn, Gooding, and a genial tone help make the movie harmless tomfoolery the whole family can tolerate.
  10. Daddy Day Care
    A big-screen sitcom so sleepy and juvenile it might as well come with its own nap break.
  11. Almost Peaceful
    Too many of these characters behave like they just stepped out of a Noel Coward production.
  12. Tycoon: A New Russian
    While the players are circling and silently sizing each other up, the audience may find itself straining to look around them, to see the history they're blocking.
  13. Last Life in the Universe
    It's hard to know what's really happening in the movie versus what's merely running through the characters' heads, and the poignant final shot muddies the picture even more, raising the question of just when (or if) the story jumps from real to imaginary.
  14. Rosenstrasse
    Von Trotta lingers for so long on the backstory and framing story that the movie's heart never comes to the fore.
  15. Chasing Liberty
    On record and in her movies, Moore is sold as wholesome and real, which sometimes translates as generic and blah, in spite of her genuine appeal and accessibility.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Wedding Singer
    Sandler is endearing as a sensitive nice guy, and Barrymore is a cute love interest, but The Wedding Singer fails to deliver the anticipated laughs.
  17. Runaway Jury
    Though star-packed to the point of absurdity--juror Luis Guzmán has little to do but nod his head every once in a while--The Runaway Jury doesn't know what to do with its players.
  18. A Song for Martin
    Starts in one direction, then performs a cruel narrative fake-out, sandwiching together two different movies that are scarcely related.
  19. Maryam
    Maryam is absorbing and insightful when Serry focuses on the subtleties of a family's generational and cultural conflict, but the film veers regularly into Movie Of The Week (or even Afterschool Special) "big moments" that play like forced attempts to tell a personal story while insecurely adhering to a commercial formula.
  20. Inventing the Abbotts
    The members of its young cast (Jennifer Connelly, Joaquin Phoenix, Liv Tyler) have all shown promise elsewhere, but don't really get to do much but look attractive and troubled here. They may be stars, but as long as they keep treading water in bland stuff like this, the world may never know.
  21. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
    Seems to understand its source material, but has no idea how to improve on it.
  22. Buffalo '66
    While watching Gazzara, Huston, Kevin Corrigan, Rosanna Arquette, and others take things two steps beyond over-the-top is inherently compelling, it becomes embarrassing before long.
  23. The Rage: Carrie 2
    Better than an opportunistic sequel has any right to be, but still pretty flawed.
  24. Auto Focus
    Kinnear's mesmerizing performance comes close to redeeming Auto Focus, suggesting depths the film never gets around to exposing, but Schrader's alternately flat and histrionic storytelling sends the film hurtling beyond redemption.
  25. Bon voyage
    Whenever Rappeneau stays close to Adjani, the film briefly soars on her giddy self-absorption--particularly in the first hour, when it hasn't been sullied by misfortune. But ultimately, the big stars are just window dressing for an expensive nothing.
  26. It Runs in the Family
    Essentially the same heartwarming goo about three generations of men quarreling and bonding, with Kirk just as feisty as ever.
  27. Carandiru
    Babenco's hard work is undercut by his squarely theatrical notion of realism: Specifically, how did the touring company for "West Side Story" wind up in such an awful spot?
  28. The Tracker
    Gulpilil, a solid cast, and gorgeous scenery keep The Tracker watchable, but they can't mask the fact that as an adventure, it's sluggish, and as a film about racism, it's often reductive and clumsy.
  29. Lucía, Lucía
    Has its moments, but by the time it reaches its anticlimax, Roth won't be the only one irritated at getting jerked around for no discernible reason.
  30. Particles of Truth
    Though clumsy, Particles Of Truth isn't hopeless. Before turning to filmmaking, Elster made her living as a celebrity fashion stylist, so she has a good eye for color, motion, and the feel of New York in summer. And, because she worked primarily on music videos, she uses music well.
  31. View from the Top
    Over in a breeze, padded out by a generous collection of outtakes, and filled with characters who disappear virtually unnoticed, View is an inoffensive comedy that feels like the victim of too much fiddling.
    • 79 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Run Lola Run
    May be all Eurotrash flash, but it's not often that a film packs this much visceral punch.
  33. Mr 3000
    Sputtering along on Mac's sleepy improvisations, Mr. 3000 volleys between the dumb, frat-house wackiness of "Major League" and the "Wonder Bat" schmaltz of "The Natural" and "Field Of Dreams," chasing the gags with a lame baseball-as-life message about playing for the right reasons.
  34. The Good Girl
    Skillfully sketches the parameters of its small-town existence but never quite fleshes out the inhabitants of those parameters. Without the well-considered humor and strongly defined characters of "Chuck," only a good cast stands between Girl and some familiar stereotypes.
  35. Criminal
    Without any glimmers of depth or subtext.
  36. The Rundown
    The result rises to the level of mediocrity thanks largely to the magnetic presence of The Rock, who's made a smooth transition from professional wrestling to leading-man status with this and "The Scorpion King."
  37. Pumpkin
    The film doesn't seem to know how it feels, much less how others are supposed to feel about it.
  38. Incident at Loch Ness
    Incident is too reverent for its own good. It could use a big blast of Herzog-like madness, but it sticks to the conventional show-business satire's arsenal of clichés.
  39. In the Cut
    Though the oppressive artiness makes the early scenes fairly ridiculous, the director's odd methods add rare tension to the climax, as it becomes evident that the finale won't be so predictable in Campion's hands.
  40. Saved!
    If director Brian Dannelly were interested in taking his film into the realm of camp, the gag might have worked, but as is, it simply gives the impression that he doesn't quite know what he's talking about.
  41. Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
    The film is smart enough to know that verbal humor isn't its strong point, but it doesn't offer much in the way of compensation.
  42. Home of the Brave
    Di Florio loses her grip on Liuzzo's story whenever she lapses into generalities. But when Di Florio gets into the specifics of her subject's legacy, Home Of The Brave stands out as both relevant and moving.
  43. The Recruit
    Donaldson and his battery of screenwriters aim for nothing more than a coolly efficient thrill machine, but the mechanics break down in the end, foiled by a "whodunit" twist that's telegraphed early in the first reel. Careening forward without any real purpose, the film simply flies off the rails.
  44. Seven Years in Tibet
    Annaud has given Seven Years In Tibet an epic scope, packed with beautiful scenery, lush costumes, and elaborate sets. Which would all be well and good if they didn't often seem like the reason the movie exists.
  45. She Hate Me
    While not quite a red herring, the corporate stuff serves as a prelude to a long-winded and mostly embarrassing treatise on alternative lifestyles and filial responsibility.
  46. Seducing Doctor Lewis
    In their attempt to make rural life look magical, Scott and Pouliot dehumanize their characters, substituting quirks for true individuality.
  47. Returner
    Yamazaki is clearly a science-fiction fan himself, and in Returner, he shows some worthwhile style, if only by stealing the biggest and best possible elements for his serviceably entertaining genre mashup.
  48. Rain
    Rain lays so much portent on every scene that it becomes ungenerous and morally forbidding, as if each bummed cigarette or leisurely cocktail will lead the family that much closer to oblivion. In this case, the punishment is far greater than the crime.
  49. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
    As documentary moviemaking, though, Ellis and Mueller's work falls a little flat.
  50. Bright Future
    But save for the mesmerizing final tracking shot, Bright Future just mopes around aimlessly, hoping that its vague themes will eventually congeal into something profound.
  51. Along Came Polly
    With a cast this gifted, some of the throwaway jokes stick, but when Along Came Polly goes for its biggest, grossest laughs, the strings show well in advance.
  52. When Will I Be Loved
    Beyond the "hell hath no fury" angle that overlays the story, When Will I Be Loved amounts to nothing more than another repository for kinky Tobackisms: Seen one (and the one to see remains 1978's Fingers), seen them all.
  53. Holes
    An ambitious undertaking, but not a successful one: It unfolds with the studied determination of a grade-school book report.
  54. The Alamo
    Turns into an edited-for-TV version of Sam Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch"--flat, bloodless, and utterly bereft of period grit.
  55. Robot Stories
    Disappointing.
  56. The Inheritance
    An initially engaging but ultimately wearying combination of naturalistic acting, cinéma vérité camerawork, and broadly melodramatic plotting.
  57. A Home at the End of the World
    The result: some intriguing moments, even more intriguing performances, and a film that doesn't quite work.
  58. Gozu
    Miike has served up some of the most dumbfounding images in contemporary cinema.
  59. Zhou Yu de huo che
    An empty lake, drained of any tangible substance and refilled with wispy, pseudo-poetic metaphor.
  60. Instinct
    A mushy-headed, unintentionally funny inspirational drama that plays like a clumsy attempt to crossbreed "The Shawshank Redemption" and "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest."
  61. Dig!
    By giving Taylor the last word, Dig! becomes little more than a self-serving, unconvincing infomercial for a musician who comes across as functional and bearable only when compared to his counterpart.
  62. Under the Tuscan Sun
    Writer-director Audrey Wells never aims higher than postcard filmmaking, and Under The Tuscan Sun at least works on that level, by casting its little operetta of self-realization and remodeling travails against some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
  63. Warriors of Heaven and Earth
    In spite of the unavoidable disappointment that comes from raised expectations (and lowered elevations), it's clumsy storytelling that ultimately keeps Warriors grounded.
  64. Paper Clips
    The story they get may be heartfelt and inspiring, but all that powerful sentiment doesn't make it any more complete.
  65. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
    Guerrilla still holds up as social history, primarily because its description of seething frustration in a divided America has become spookily relevant.
  66. Intermission
    Like many stylish, whipcrack American and British indies made in the wake of Quentin Tarantino and "Trainspotting," the film gets off on the same anything-can-happen storytelling brio, which at least keeps things lively. But without any resonant characters or ideas, it's all empty calories.
  67. Pieces of April
    Though Pieces Of April comes together with improbable grace, Hedges evokes unearned tears from a premise that's already loaded from the start. Like Holmes, he serves up boxed stuffing and canned cranberries, then fishes for compliments to the chef.
  68. Tokyo Godfathers
    No amount of shoehorned-in razzle-dazzle can keep this forced fable from feeling like a shadow of Kon's early work.
  69. The Matrix Reloaded
    In making The Matrix's leaden answer to "The Phantom Menace," the Wachowski brothers seem to be afflicted with George Lucas Syndrome: They're so enthralled by the convoluted mythology of their own private universe that they've lost touch with its human core.
  70. Stage Beauty
    As historical speculation, it's clever enough. As a film, it glows with flop-sweat.
  71. Happy Times
    Happy Times doesn't buck the clichés so much as infuse them with feeling, playing off the pleasant, unforced rhythm of two characters who pine for simple companionship.
  72. Being Julia
    It looks handsome but seems infected by the idea of playing different roles; a comedy in one scene, it adopts a mood of a high seriousness the next and clutters the stage with minor characters that contribute little. In the end, this inability to make up its mind does the film in.
  73. The Last Samurai
    What it lacks is artistry, those small touches of personality that might have distinguished its lugubrious history lesson from a bunch of pretty pictures with captions telling the story.
  74. Scary Movie 3
    Sneaks in the occasional child-molestation or bestiality joke, but otherwise seems content to cannibalize the broad slapstick of Zucker's halcyon days with Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams.
  75. True Romance
    The Tony Scott version of Tarantino comes out vulgar; the graphic violence and profanity-laced posturing represent everything that the wannabes soon used to exhaust audiences. Nevertheless, True Romance contains so many unforgettable moments.
  76. After the Sunset
    When it comes time for the actual robbery, so little has been explained that the plan seems ridiculously easy in some respects and totally improbable in others.
  77. Danny Deckchair
    Best known for "Notting Hill," Ifans remains a charming actor, but even his fine work can't get this lead zeppelin off the ground.
  78. The Clearing
    It never adds up to much. There's a fair amount of fine acting (with that cast, how could there not be?), but it's in the service of a story that bubbles without ever boiling.
  79. EuroTrip
    The brain trust responsible in part for last year's "The Cat In The Hat," Eurotrip seems like the result of a particularly half-hearted brainstorming session.
  80. Garage Days
    Proyas is a veteran music-video director, and for its first half the film feels like one long video, albeit in a good way. He initially lets music and images tell his story rather than words, but in its second half, Garage Days succumbs to its overreaching, convoluted plot.
  81. Mr. Deeds
    The film owes as much to Caddyshack as to Capra.
  82. Seeing Other People
    Eventually finds its rhythm with late flashes of dark humor and bedroom hijinks, but it takes too much time to get there.
  83. WMD: Weapons of Mass Deception
    This indignant attack on the way the Iraqi war was marketed and covered feels about as timely and relevant as yesterday's newspaper.
  84. 2 Fast 2 Furious
    Singleton abandons the underground racing subculture that gave the first film its allure, relying instead on lazy thriller plotting that's only a bag of donuts and a freeze-frame away from the average TV cop show.
  85. Dog Days
    Working with non-professional actors, Seidl emphasizes their ordinariness to the point of cartoonish ridicule, putting them in scenarios either banal, perverse, or both at the same time.
  86. City of Angels
    At least Dennis Franz, as a former angel, livens up his scenes, and Ryan is less intolerable than usual. Meanwhile, the always-interesting Cage does a good job pretending he's in a better movie. But he's not.
  87. Blood Work
    Eastwood's down-the-middle police procedural Blood Work ranks as his least ambitious work in a decade, anonymous save for his iconic screen presence and a tasteful selection of jazz on the soundtrack.
  88. The Green Butchers
    It's a clammy, odd duck of a movie, a black comedy that seems strangely content with merely being morbid.
  89. Notre musique
    A sophomore film major would be lucky to get a passing grade with such material.
  90. This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss
    The scattered insights in This So-Called Disaster aren't worth the sifting it takes to find them.
  91. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
    Mostly, Dodgeball just feels off--never consistently funny, but also never dire. It's as if Thurber resigned himself to making a dumb, formula-bound movie with a dusting of smart gags instead of a smart movie in dumb-movie clothes.
  92. Saints and Soldiers
    Too often, Saints And Soldiers confuses bravery for faith.
  93. No Such Thing
    Hartley's most ambitious film, but it's also among his most uneven, shifting away at moments when its characters should be allowed to connect, underemphasizing some themes, overemphasizing others, and letting a general clash of ideas stand in for momentum.
  94. The Grudge
    Less a film than a terror delivery system, The Grudge repeatedly shows off Shimizu's technical chops, but never gives viewers a reason to care about or identify with the victims.
  95. The Merchant of Venice
    When the halves of the film collide in the courtroom climax, it looks like a misbegotten pilot for Law & Order: Usury Victims Unit.
  96. Beyond the Sea
    Anyone who thinks Beyond The Sea is a movie about Bobby Darin isn't paying close enough attention.
  97. De-Lovely
    If Porter's songs are so timeless, why does the movie sound like something that might have played on VH1 five years ago?
  98. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
    Contains all the elements of a satisfying teen genre picture, but they've been compromised out of existence.
  99. Ice Age
    Kids won't mind a bit, but adults accustomed to "Shrek" and Pixar will have no trouble spotting what's missing.
  100. In Good Company
    Only when it wraps up all its loose ends with a feel-good sitcom conclusion does it finally reveal itself: It's an interesting failure rendered all the more disappointing for veering so close to success.
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