USA Today's Scores

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For 4,670 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 61% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 36% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.1 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 64
Highest review score: 100 Fruitvale Station
Lowest review score: 0 Amos & Andrew
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,963 out of 4670
  2. Mixed: 1,021 out of 4670
  3. Negative: 686 out of 4670
4670 movie reviews
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  1. 1917
    What makes the vivid film such an astounding effort – and one of the year's best movies – is that it’s edited seamlessly as one continuous real-time take, following a couple of Brits through rat-infested trenches, sniper-filled towns and even empty battlefields where the Grim Reaper’s been busy yet danger still looms.
  2. House of Sand and Fog
    The clash over the house quickly escalates into a modern-day tragedy. It is a fascinating film, handsomely adapted from the book and well directed.
  3. Wendy and Lucy
    An evocative film with a believable and subtly enthralling lead performance that gets deeply under your skin.
  4. Enemy of the State
    The picture is solidly crafted, performed to the hilt and full of humor.
  5. Prisoners
    Prisoners is infused with a poetic intensity that's rare in American thrillers. The closest cinematic comparisons would be "Zodiac," "In the Bedroom" and "Mystic River."
  6. We Don't Live Here Anymore
    A revelation. One rarely sees American-made movies that are so unafraid to explore emotional cruelty and portray the consequences without positing easy answers or attaching happy endings.
  7. Duplicity
    So with its smart writing delivered by an in-synch quartet, savor Duplicity as the ideal spring gift.
  8. Into the Wild
    Captivating and multifaceted.
  9. How to Train Your Dragon
    Who would have thought a fire-breathing monster could be one of the most adorable on-screen critters since Babe?
  10. The Short Game
    Inspired and inspiring, this documentary about 7- and 8-year-olds competing for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship is too fawning to be consistently gifted, but it manages to be occasionally, perhaps accidentally, profound.
  11. Frankie and Johnny
    Last time, director Garry Marshall gave us the fairy tale with Pretty Woman. This time, he gets the story right. [11 Oct 1991, p.1D]
    • USA Today
  12. Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back
    An intimate portrait of the Bringing It All Back Home Bob Dylan during his final acoustic tour through England, it hits with escalating emotional force as the decades go by, capturing a fleeting musical period as brilliantly as any movie ever has. [07 Jan 2000]
    • USA Today
  13. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
    Rollicking and heartbreaking in equal measure, the period musical drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom plays all the right notes, from Viola Davis mightily singing the blues to a brilliant, shattering final performance from the late Chadwick Boseman.
  14. Standard Operating Procedure
    It may be the most disturbing film you'll see in a long time.
  15. Thieves
    Writer-director Andre Techine, who's been on a recent roll with Wild Reeds and Ma Saison Preferee (also with Deneuve and Auteuil), is in even better form here. [23 Dec 1996]
    • USA Today
  16. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
    Even for non-fans, Revenge of the Sith is engrossing, and fans of the series will likely be over the moon -- and into another galaxy -- with this film.
  17. Breakdown
    Breakdown exploits so many traditional thriller situations that any suspense fan vet can easily devote a hand to counting off the predecessors it plunders. [02May1997 Pg 12.D]
    • USA Today
  18. The Incredible Shrinking Man
    Sci- fi classic. [20 Dec 1991, p.3D]
    • USA Today
  19. The Damned Don't Cry
    Dealing tangentially with Las Vegas gambling's formative years (lots of matte work here of mountains in the desert), this crackling melodrama was inspired by Bugsy Siegel's relationship with Virginia Hill. [17 Jul 2005]
    • USA Today
  20. Reprise
    With its almost stream-of-consciousness style, Reprise offers a fresh and compelling look at the vagaries of friendship and creativity.
  21. Two for the Road
    Donen (previously Hepburn's director in Funny Face and Charade) gets everything out of a brainstorm romantic teaming that didn't - and doesn't - spring automatically to mind. [05 Nov 1993, p.3D]
    • USA Today
  22. Merry Christmas
    Joyeux Noël is gritty and disturbing with its extended scenes of war and destruction. It also is emotional, even a touch sentimental.
  23. Four Weddings and a Funeral
    It's a clever, multitiered affair built around the title rituals, frosted with delicious characterizations and tasty repartee. [11 March 1994, Life, p.4D]
    • USA Today
  24. Departures
    Though events unravel predictably, the film is profoundly affecting, thanks to a well-written story, rich characters and superlative acting.
  25. There Will Be Blood
    A searingly intense and artful tale that grabs hold of the viewer from its jarring and wordless opening scenes and doesn't let go.
  26. The Matador
    Pierce Brosnan is the anti-Bond in The Matador. And though he's anything but suave, sophisticated or debonair, he's a joy to behold.
  27. Sin City
    Occasionally very funny, the picture tends to coast on its cosmetics. A first-rate script might have made it a twisted masterpiece.
  28. Steve Jobs
    Sorkin's script is clever and knowing — at one point late in the proceedings, Jobs wonders aloud why “everybody gets drunk” and takes him to task five minutes before every event. It's a small moment that breaks the fourth wall in the slightest and smartest of ways.
  29. Downhill Racer
    The best fictional movie about skiing. [27 Nov 2009, p.13D]
    • USA Today
  30. Waitress
    Serves up an irresistible helping of delicious fun with writing that is tart and sharp and a story infused with sweetness.
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