Variety's Scores

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For 17,760 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 52% higher than the average critic
  • 4% same as the average critic
  • 44% 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 IMAX: Hubble 3D
Lowest review score: 0 Divorce: The Musical
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9,121 out of 17760
  2. Mixed: 7,003 out of 17760
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17760
17760 movie reviews
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  1. The Open Road
    Boasting strong performances by Jeff Bridges and Justin Timberlake.
  2. The September Issue
    A dishy and engrossing peek inside the fashion world’s corridors of power -- every bit as slickly packaged as the publication it seeks to uncover.
  3. We Live in Public
    This astounding new documentary burrows into the thin and darkly funny spaces between artistry and vanity, isolation and community, collaboration and exploitation, sanity and madness.
  4. St. Trinian's
    Mildly amusing result, with plenty of slack in its 100 minutes, should work OK with its target audience of female Brit tweenies, who won't notice the pic's shoddy technical package, sloppy direction and the way the original films' antiestablishment tone has morphed into a celebration of dumbed-down "yoof" culture.
  5. At the Edge of the World
    A nonfiction pirate movie that tickles one’s inner eco-radical.
  6. Big Fan
    It's a small, peculiar film, one unlikely to appeal much to women, non-sports fans and mainstreamers, but its uncomfortable comic insights should win it a loyal following.
  7. Wolke Neun
    Overall tone lies somewhere between Mike Leigh and Ken Loach in performances and look, with a modest tech package.
  8. Play the Game
    The comedy's broad perfs, predictable story beats and pro but characterless packaging have a smallscreen feel.
  9. Halloween II (2009)
    Repellent not only in content but in visual style, writer-director Rob Zombie’s hatchet job on the series he revived so artfully two years ago plays like a violent act of euthanasia upon the huge, brain-dead body of work inspired by the 30-year-old “Halloween.”
  10. Taking Woodstock
    The picture serves up intermittent pleasures but is too raggedy and laid-back for its own good, its images evaporating nearly as soon as they hit the screen.
  11. Inglourious Basterds
    A violent fairy tale, an increasingly entertaining fantasia in which the history of World War II is wildly reimagined so that the cinema can play the decisive role in destroying the Third Reich.
  12. World's Greatest Dad
    The picture wobbles a bit before emerging a successful low-key satire of literary fraud and morbid personality cults.
  13. Post Grad
    As fiction characters go, Ryden seems as dull as they come, making it hard to muster much sympathy for her plight.
  14. Shorts
    More zippy, diverting fun from Robert Rodriguez's family filmmaking factory.
  15. The Baader Meinhof Complex
    An explosive performance by Johanna Wokalek gives some relief to an otherwise long and humdrum series of characters.
  16. Fifty Dead Men Walking
    A classic about the Irish "troubles." Despite the unavoidably convoluted facts of the real-life story, pic boasts plausibly written, solidly acted characters and a conflict that pushes the viewer's righteous-indignation buttons.
  17. Five Minutes of Heaven
    Powerhouse performances by Liam Neeson and James Nesbit make this an intense, ultimately moving tale.
  18. The Marc Pease Experience
    The finished product appears particularly stale, with an unfunny script that squanders its game cast, including a valiantly emotive Jason Schwartzman in the title role.
  19. X Games 3D: The Movie
    A relatively unimaginative take on the proceedings, coupled with occasionally bizarre stereoscopic work and awkward narration, causes the picture to bail out more often than it soars.
  20. My One and Only
    The ensemble collectively displays crisp comic timing throughout.
  21. Passing Strange
    This first-rate multicamera transcript of a terrific show should delight musical fans (and many who think they aren't) as a niche broadcast item.
  22. Confessionsofa Ex-Doofus-ItchyFooted Mutha
    Spinning a wry, tall-tale version of his autobiography, the septuagenarian audaciously plays himself at every age and every stage of his improbably picaresque adventures.
  23. Casi divas
    Gloriously flamboyant comedic extravaganza, fuses soap opera and "American Idol"-type competition, following four wildly different women vying for the star role in a feature filmization of a popular telenovela.
  24. Still Walking
    Its modest surface belies the depths of a lovely seriocomedy that concisely lays bare all kinds of uncomfortable dynamics in seemingly casual, low-key fashion.
  25. The Headless Woman
    A simpler and more taut, if slightly less interesting version of the oblique but mesmerizing studies of family life in fetid, hothouse atmospheres the Argentine helmer offered up in "La cienaga" and "The Holy Girl."
  26. District 9
    Though compelling throughout, District 9 never becomes outright terrifying, largely because Blomkamp is less interested in exploiting his aliens for cheap scares than in holding up a mirror to our own bloodthirsty, xenophobic species.
  27. Ponyo
    Though targeted at tots, Ponyo may appeal most to jaded adults thirsty for wondrous beauty and unpackaged innocence
  28. The Time Traveler's Wife
    May not make a lick of sense, but it does make for fairly irresistible nonsense.
  29. Bandslam
    High school musicals have their scrappiest number in Bandslam, an awkward, earnest, almost irresistible indie.
  30. The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
    The movie simply doesn't deliver -- living hard, selling hard and, before it's over, finally dying hard.
  31. Earth Days
    A moving, elegiac, deeply contemplative work that leaves the viewer not with a save-the-world checklist, but rather a spirit of hopeful reflection.
  32. Grace
    In the showdown between mother and mother-in-law, the proceedings are peppered with spasm of violence that are alternately sick-funny and downright chilling, but don't cancel out the intelligence, or at least drollery, with which so much of the film is put together.
  33. It Might Get Loud
    Musically and visually sumptuous.
  34. Spread
    With "Shampoo" and "American Gigolo" now distant memories, the time evidently seemed ripe for another Hollywood stud movie. Despite Ashton Kutcher’s believability as an older woman’s kept boy, Spread isn’t a patch on those previous films.
  35. Taxidermia
    Taxidermia sets a benchmark for body horror in the cinema.
  36. The Way We Get By
    Although the trio's work as "troop greeters" is the film's ostensible subject, their renewed and somewhat tenuous sense of purpose gives the doc its bite.
  37. A Perfect Getaway
    A big-reveal thriller with surprises that really do surprise -- and are worth waiting for through an audaciously long buildup -- A Perfect Getaway finds writer-director David Twohy in popcorn form with a muscularity not seen since 2000's "Pitch Black."
  38. Julie & Julia
    This middling melange of Child biopic and contempo dramedy feels overstuffed and predigested as it depicts two ladies who found fame and fulfillment in their respective eras by cooking and writing about it.
  39. Cold Souls
    An amusing slice of existential whimsy with an Eastern European bent, Cold Souls posits a world in which humans can have their souls extracted and implanted in each others’ bodies.
  40. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
    While thesping is not the main game here, having a cast of bright young things certainly helps, and Quaid gets in a few nice John Wayne-like moments as the no-nonsense boss.
  41. Beeswax
    Beeswax, the third feature from American indie auteur Andrew Bujalski ("Funny Ha Ha," "Mutual Appreciation"), offers yet another low-key take on twentysomethings finding their way.
  42. I Sell the Dead
    Antic horror comedy I Sell the Dead nods to the '60s Hammer heyday of fog-swirling Victorian chillers, as well as that period's penchant for teaming genre favorites (Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre, etc.) in genial sendups.
  43. Paper Heart
    There may be a fairly sharp line dividing those who find the whole delightfully odd, and those irked by what could be read as a faux childlike simplicity to the enterprise.
  44. Second Skin
    The human dramas of individual gamers are what really make this technically polished documentary so fascinating and potentially commercial.
  45. Funny People
    Amusing and engaging yet lacking in snap and cohesion, this insider's look at the world of standup comics in contempo Los Angeles rings true in its view of the variously warped, stunted and narrow lives of its mostly male denizens.
  46. The Cove
    Eco-activist documentaries don't get much more compelling than The Cove, an impassioned piece of advocacy filmmaking that follows "Flipper" trainer-turned-marine crusader Richard O'Barry in his efforts to end dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.
  47. Thirst
    An overlong stygian comedy that badly needs a transfusion of genuine inspiration.
  48. Aliens in the Attic
    Performances are unremarkable but acceptable pretty much across the board, and the vocal talents -- particularly Thomas Haden Church as the belligerent Tazer and Josh Peck as the lovable Sparks -- are well cast.
  49. The Collector
    With both feet planted firmly on the sticky accelerator of the torture-porn vehicle, The Collector is a surprisingly stylish and confident high-concept thriller.
  50. Lorna's Silence
    The film doesn't pack the same cumulative wallop as the brothers' earlier work, but its low-key artistry, immaculate construction and fine performance by relative newcomer Arta Dobroshi should rouse the usual fest acclaim and arthouse interest.
  51. Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
    Aussie genre pics of the 1970s and '80s get a rip-roaring salute in Not Quite Hollywood, complete with endorsement by Quentin Tarantino as chief onscreen fanboy.
  52. Flame and Citron
    An absorbing, shades-of-gray look at home-front intrigue in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II. Ole Christian Madsen’s accomplished fourth feature plays out on a much larger canvas than he’s used previously and offers nuance and ambiguity in equal measure with violence and tragedy.
  53. Gotta Dance
    Heartwarming and full of self-deprecating humor, albeit somewhat over-long and repetitive.
  54. Adam
    Emotionally potent performances, gently offbeat humor and writer-helmer Max Mayer's assured touch guide this tender New York love story to a quietly hopeful conclusion.
  55. You, the Living
    Results are painfully amusing, frequently random and occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious.
  56. In the Loop
    Intelligent political satire this expertly acted is nothing to sneeze at.
  57. Orphan
    Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.
  58. The Ugly Truth
    The Ugly Truth is an arch, contrived, entirely predictable romantic comedy assembled with sufficient audience-friendly elements to put it over as both a good girls' night attraction and a date-night lure raunchy enough to leave couples in the right mood afterward.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    G-Force
    A fur-covered "A-Team" for the kiddies, G-Force is heavy on splashy pyrotechnics and predictably light on plot.
  60. The Answer Man
    Jeff Daniels' gleeful misanthropy and Lauren Graham's emotional openness are poorly served by the pic's transparently phony story and therapeutic uplift
  61. Deadgirl
    Arriving on the heels of America's torture-porn wave, Deadgirl takes a disturbing adolescent male fantasy and glosses it up just enough to pass for a legitimate horror movie.
  62. Shrink
    The film may be too inside-baseball, with strained sympathy and contrived emotions.
  63. Surviving Crooked Lake
    Sometimes shaky, sometimes smooth handheld DV lensing (by Drews and Krybus) gives the pic an immediacy that greatly enhances its dramatic and emotional impact.
  64. (500) Days of Summer
    Boy gets girl and boy loses girl in convoluted, sometimes cloying but ultimately winning fashion in 500 Days of Summer.
  65. A Woman in Berlin
    A stately, intermittently gripping, ultimately overlong drama.
  66. Homecoming
    Competent but unimaginative horror entry.
  67. Off Jackson Avenue
    Though picture is downbeat and defiantly low-budget, its laid-back absurdist tone and no-nonsense pacing make for an audio-visual delight.
  68. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
    Dazzlingly well made and perhaps deliberately less fanciful than the previous entries, this one is played in a mode closer to palpable life-or-death drama than any of the others and is quite effective as such.
  69. Somers Town
    Basically a comedy but with typically Meadowsian dark edges, it forms an affectionate tribute to cross-cultural friendship and the rapidly changing landscape known as Somers Town.
  70. Bruno
    Undeniably funny, outrageous and boundary-pushing, this further documentation of Sacha Baron Cohen's sheer nerve will draw an abundant share of "Borat" fans.
  71. Humpday
    A visually mangy but frequently hilarious low-budgeter.
  72. Blood: The Last Vampire
    While foreign viewers are apt to focus on the action, native English speakers can't help but notice the sheer awkwardness of the performances.
  73. I Love You, Beth Cooper
    Peaks early -- like, during the first three minutes -- and rapidly goes downhill from there.
  74. Soul Power
    Joyously funky documentary.
  75. Weather Girl
    Engaging lead performances and snatches of witty repartee help lubricate the creaky plot mechanics in Weather Girl, a lightly amusing but thoroughly predictable dramedy.
  76. Yoo-Hoo, Mrs. Goldberg
    Director-producer Aviva Kempner's well-researched but unchallenging docu, like "The Goldbergs" itself, has cross-cultural appeal for Jews and goyim alike.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Lake Tahoe
    A lazy exercise in cute minimalist humor, low-budget but visually glossy Mexican film Lake Tahoe is so dry and slight that it threatens to drift right off the screen.
  78. I Hate Valentine's Day
    A plodding mediocrity with an almost mercenary adherence to formula.
  79. The Girl from Monaco
    A generally entertaining piece of fluff that's kept afloat by a weathered cast including Fabrice Luchini and Roschdy Zem.
  80. Tony Manero
    Balancing black humor against allegorical indictment of the Pinochet regime's oppression on narrow stack heels, striking, very offbeat period pic Tony Manero follows a psychotic petty criminal into the depths of his crazed obsession with John Travolta's character in "Saturday Night Fever."
    • 86 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Beaches of Agnès
    Oddball mix that may strike some as overly whimsical but should delight the filmmaker's many fans.
  82. Public Enemies
    Oddly, too, the film is somewhat shortchanged by its great star, Johnny Depp, who disappointingly has chosen to play Dillinger as self-consciously cool rather than earthy and gregarious.
  83. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
    With appreciably greater emphasis on action than its predecessors, and clever use of 3-D trickery to enhance storytelling as well as offer spectacle, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs could prove the third time really is the charm.
  84. The Hurt Locker
    Boal's script stirs a little of everything into the pot, which boils down into seven setpieces divided by brief intervals of camaraderie/conflict among the three protags.
  85. My Sister's Keeper
    Unsubtle, uneven and undeniably effective, this take-no-prisoners cancer weepie poses a fascinating moral quandary.
  86. Afghan Star
    Not the slickest or most crowd-pleasing among many recent performance-competition docus, it's nonetheless absorbing for the light it casts on those many Afghanis who want an end to guns and fanaticism, and the return of a social liberalism.
  87. Chéri
    Like a passable bottle of champagne, Cheri fizzes and slides down quite easily but lacks real body and doesn't really hit the spot.
  88. Life Is Hot in Cracktown
    Nowhere near as much fun as its title, playing out like an unusually obtuse episode of "The Wire."
  89. Surveillance
    A mildly amusing trifle with one of the genre's dafter plot twists.
  90. New York
    As the industry reshapes itself, this drama by helmer Kabir Khan -- with its bold, righteous, anti-Bush administration bent -- could cut out a new constituency for a genre usually devoted to purely escapist entertainment.
  91. Quiet Chaos
    Beautifully modulated, fluidly told film expresses pain with warm understatement.
  92. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
    Little seems new compared to the first installment, except that this version is longer, louder, and perhaps "more than your eye can meet" in one sitting.
  93. Whatever Works
    This far-fetched, deliberately artificial game of musical chairs -- in which mismatched characters encircle, attract and repel each other -- feels forced, often losing itself in excess verbiage.
  94. The Proposal
    The Proposal won't catch any bouquets for originality, but in terms of a bended-knee pitch for the affections of women -- including Ryan Reynolds’ boyish charms, a hip granny and even a beyond-adorable puppy -- this romantic comedy pretty much pulls out all the stops.
  95. Year One
    Lacks seismic guffaws but elicits many mild smiles.
  96. $9.99
    A deliberately coarse character style that's more Gumby than Gromit.
  97. Dead Snow
    The pic reveals itself as a horror-action-comedy a la "Evil Dead," with amusing twists of fate and over-the-top gore.
  98. The End of the Line
    In 82 minutes, Murray wrangles enough data to make his point that biology can't keep up with sophisticated fishing technologies and worldwide demand; attacks high-end restaurants such as Nobu for putting endangered species on the menu; praises Alaska as a paragon of responsible fishing.
  99. Under Our Skin
    Takes a creative, humanistic approach that makes the complex material dramatic and visually interesting.
  100. Moon
    Despite its handsome look and good thesping workout for Sam Rockwell, the story stretches a bit thin over feature length.
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