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. Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
    Filmmakers underline the immediate relevance of their conclusion: In matters of war and peace, who we elect president is crucial.
  2. Burn After Reading
    Nothing about the project's execution inspires the feeling that this was ever intended as anything more than a lark, which would be fine if it were a good one. As it is, audience teeth-grinding sets in early and never lets up.
  3. Moving Midway
    Uniquely Southern documentary has become surprisingly timely this election year.
  4. Towelhead
    Towelhead is transgressive without being effectively subversive, gutsy to no particular end. It simply lacks style, which counts for so much in this sort of thing.
  5. The Family That Preys
    Bates and Woodard strike up a real dynamic, and picture gives the duo room to improvise, leading to one raucous scene after another as they Thelma-and-Louise it in a top-down convertible.
  6. Righteous Kill
    Unable or unwilling to match the visceral chops and moral provocations of superior serial-killer chillers, Righteous Kill is content to be a twisty genre exercise; it's like "Seven" as reimagined by M. Night Shyamalan.
  7. The Women
    The Women is less about getting even than about inspiring that same mushy sense of female empowerment you might find in a Tyler Perry meller, complete with manic mood swings and full-blown diva moments.
  8. Everybody Wants to Be Italian
    A clumsy but inoffensive romantic comedy.
  9. Mister Foe
    Tip-top performances, led by young British thesp Jamie Bell, and a deftly handled tone reflecting all the title teen's confused emotions make Hallam Foe a viewing delight.
  10. Ping Pong Playa
    A good, clean, fun comedy that uses a table tennis championship to crack inside jokes about Los Angeles' Chinese-American community.
  11. Save Me
    The first feature from new gay-focused production company Mythgarden, is a welcome exception in that it effectively dramatizes the issues without caricaturing or pillorizing either party.
  12. Surfer, Dude
    Hapless, laughless movie.
  13. Bangkok Dangerous
    Without the technical nastiness and fatal realism that made the initial film so compelling, the remake feels like a hollow excuse to present the myriad ways in which a bullet can pierce a cranium, rather than an edgy portrait of Third World violence.
  14. A Secret
    A fine drama that stands as Gallic vet Claude Miller's best in at least a decade.
  15. August Evening
    Although guided by considerable empathy toward its small circle of kinfolk eking out a living in southern Texas, Eska's tale of a woman's unconditional support of her father-in-law is told with a faux-poetic sensibility that never really connects with his characters' lives.
  16. The Pool
    Smith's utterly natural filmmaking there is impressive.
  17. Babylon A.D.
    A noisier, costlier version of "Children of Men," yet lacking that film's social-political significance and jaw-dropping direction.
  18. I Served the King of England
    A virtual primer on the unique mixture of self-deprecating dark humor and personal tragedy that has been the Czech cinema's stock-in-trade since their celebrated 1960s New Wave.
  19. Sukiyaki Western Django
    Basic joke wears off after five minutes, and many bystanders will start to head out of town. But genre/Asian buffs prepared to ride shotgun for two hours will be rewarded with some classy action sequences and densely accoutred widescreen lensing.
  20. Young People Fucking
    Uneven but not unpleasant.
  21. College
    Hardly superbad, but sorta OK.
  22. Disaster Movie
    Seldom has a pic been more appropriately titled than Disaster Movie, yet another frantically unfunny free-form farce.
  23. Goal II: Living the Dream
    The rags-to-near-riches saga of "Goal!" has turned into a risible riches-are-awful tale in Goal II: Living the Dream.
  24. My Mexican Shivah
    Culture shock often proves the stuff of comedy, but the sight of a silver-studded, sombrero-topped mariachi band breaking into a rousing rendition of "Hava Nagila" transports diversity into the realm of the surreal.
  25. Year of the Fish
    That the film is animated gives it an appropriately magical feel, but it can't save the story from being drowned in devices and stereotype.
  26. Traitor
    Brandishes physical verisimilitude and intelligent seriousness but proves unable to really get inside its chameleon-like central character.
  27. Death Race
    As hard as metal and just as dumb, Paul W.S. Anderson's Death Race couldn't be further from producer Roger Corman and director Paul Bartel's goofy, bloody 1975 original, "Death Race 2000."
  28. The House Bunny
    A blissfully broad comedy that should catapult Anna Faris into a singular kind of stardom.
  29. The Longshots
    While The Longshots is by no means an unpleasant experience, it feels like a project carried out by people who began with the best of intentions but weren't quite able to sustain their initial enthusiasm.
  30. Hamlet 2
    Amusing but unevenly inspired tale of a deluded high school drama teacher's attempt to stage a career-saving extravaganza has some laughs, to be sure.
  31. Cthulhu
    The acting is so emotionally unhinged and erratic it borders on camp, diluting any suspense.
  32. Trouble the Water
    Though tinged with the sheer gumption and personal resolve of amateur vidmaker and would-be rapper Kimberly Roberts, this is ultimately a minor doc contribution to the bulging library of Katrina-related films and TV reports.
  33. I.O.U.S.A.
    Highly informative documentary reps a heady mix of charts, graphs and talking heads... superb packaging and timely subject matter.
  34. Momma's Man
    Wryly comic, sometimes heartbreaking and altogether original film about a thirtysomething Angeleno who pays a visit to his aging New York parents and finds himself unwilling or unable to leave.
  35. The Rocker
    Wilson makes the most of it in this well-crafted, feel-good satire.
  36. Star Wars: The Clone Wars
    This isn't the Star Wars we've always known and at least sometimes loved.
  37. Vicky Cristina Barcelona
    Offers potent romantic fantasy elements for men and women and a cast that should produce the best commercial returns for a Woody Allen film since "Match Point."
  38. Fly Me to the Moon 3D
    It’s a wingless exercise, despite a rather heartening attitude toward space travel that will introduce young auds to the glory that was NASA in the '60s.
  39. Mirrors
    Softcore horror at best, failed allegory at worst, Mirrors reflects little beyond Splat Pack auteur Alexandre Aja's desire to push his genre into less punishing and more profitable territory.
  40. Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer
    Indie effort evidences more energy than wit, and spends too much time on set-up before a slam-bang pay-off.
  41. Henry Poole Is Here
    Picture's tendency to lecture on the power of faith and religion and on the demerits of science seems to assume an almost childlike audience that needs to be spoon-fed Pablum.
  42. The Girl Cut in Two
    While not a classic, this is a pleasantly disturbing, nominally voyeuristic romp in the territory Chabrol knows best.
  43. Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer
    Force of personality and terrific vintage performance clips make a keeper of Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer.
  44. Tropic Thunder
    Apart from startling, out-there comic turns by Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise, however, the antics here are pretty thin, redundant and one-note.
  45. Elegy
    Sparse, low-budget drama, helmed by Spaniard Isabel Coixet, intelligently translates Roth's meditation on lust and mortality without soft-pedaling its narrator's brutally honest, unabashedly sexist views.
  46. Beautiful Losers
    Full of energy and attitude.
  47. Beer for My Horses
    A '70s-style redneck romp aimed at folks who felt intellectually challenged by the complex narrative stratagems of "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo."
  48. Hell Ride
    All this sounds like a surefire recipe for knowing, trashy fun, but something got burnt in the oven.
  49. Red
    Touchy subject matter aside, Red demonstrates real elegance in its commitment to a relatively straightforward story, allowing the characters' emotions to come to a slow boil.
  50. What We Do Is Secret
    Actor Shane West and writer-director Rodger Grossman have a clear, unwavering perspective on Crash that should entice curiosity seekers and old punks.
  51. Last Stop for Paul
    There's no real subterfuge going on, simply an ingenious way of constructing a good film out of virtually nothing.
  52. Pineapple Express
    This rambunctious paean to pot retains the trademark Apatow sweetness even as it careens from messy vulgarisms to even messier violence.
  53. Bottle Shock
    Wine lovers won't just sip but guzzle a lot of this down, and the same effect that sun-dappled days and sex in California had on "Sideways" operates here.
  54. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2
    It's all largely eye candy, especially the men, although this can be forgiven: Women have a long enough history of being superficial in the movies, and a little payback is perfectly understandable.
  55. Patti Smith: Dream of Life
    The textured, thoughtful results may prove too cerebral and abstract for audiences beyond Smith's hardcore followers,
  56. Frozen River
    No trendsetter or breakthrough, this is more than anything else a welcome chance for the fine actor Melissa Leo to finally dominate a film in a terrific and affecting lead role.
  57. The Midnight Meat Train
    Film isn't scary, per se, but it's mostly effective nonetheless, with Cooper capably steering his character from charming young artist to nervous wreck, evoking Ralph Fiennes' more unhinged turns along the way.
  58. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
    Reheating the ingredients can't disguise how stale they are, as setpiece after setpiece strains to whip up excitement, only to fall flat while reminding of previous sequences that did such things ever so much better.
  59. Swing Vote
    Picture's comic smarts and affecting daddy-daughter drama provide a sturdy platform for its heartfelt advocacy of informed voting and responsible citizenship.
  60. Sixty Six
    While mazel tovs are due for efficient playing and execution, predictable script seldom scores big laughs.
  61. In Search of a Midnight Kiss
    Performances are aptly quirky and ingratiating, Holdridge's seriocomic balance nicely judged. But the most outstanding element in an accomplished low-budget package is Robert Murphy's lensing, which recalls "Manhattan" in its B&W celebration of a cityscape.
  62. America the Beautiful
    Wide-ranging educational documentary attaches itself to the rise and fall of a 12-year-old fashion model, and indeed, its sincere, cautionary tone seems best suited to younger auds and small screen exposure.
  63. Man on Wire
    One of the most wildly entertaining docs of recent years.
  64. The X Files: I Want to Believe
    The warming glow of nostalgia only goes so far, with one's level of forgiveness likely dictated by where they reside along the "X-Files" fan continuum.
  65. Step Brothers
    The film is funny at times but lapses into the reflexive vulgarity that seems to be the default mechanism of the Apatow machinery.
  66. Baghead
    Though its scares are scarce, Baghead provides what nine out of 10 dead-teenagers movies lack: specifically, a realistic sense of character that gives moviegoers a reason to identify with the would-be victims.
  67. Brideshead Revisited
    Offers lush and compelling drama drawn from Evelyn Waugh's beloved novel. Purists may blanch at the screenplay's changes to the source material's narrative fine points, but its spirit survives intact.
  68. Bustin' Down the Door
    With verve, style and a fine sense of the human side of surf culture, Jeremy Gosch makes a terrific splash with his debut doc, Bustin' Down the Door.
  69. The Order of Myths
    Order of Myths looks good, and its characters are memorable. It's important to know that the "traditions" extolled by both sides of Mobile involve keeping people apart. But it's not clear at all that Brown is bringing them together.
  70. American Teen
    Undeniably entertaining for its zippy presentation.
  71. Canary
    Shiota piles tons of symbolic baggage on his pint-size protagonists, who luckily rise to the challenge.
  72. CSNY/Déjà Vu
    Making music, making fun of themselves and making as much political hay as possible, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young set out to alleviate the public allergy to Iraq War films with CSNY Deja Vu, a doc that seems quite likely to effect a cure.
  73. Boy A
    Picture inspires respect for its first-rate performances, artful construction and meticulous understatement.
  74. Two Tickets to Paradise
    Utterly drab and desperate for laughs.
  75. The Dark Knight
    Enthralling...An ambitious, full-bodied crime epic of gratifying scope and moral complexity, this is seriously brainy pop entertainment that satisfies every expectation raised by its hit predecessor and then some.
  76. Mamma Mia!
    Scribe-creator Catherine Johnson (also in her first screen outing) and theater-opera vet Lloyd can't seem to find the right tone or style for their globally celebrated material.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Space Chimps
    Enjoyably slim family entertainment.
  78. A Very British Gangster
    Noonan talks too much, preens too much and simply loves the camera. And the bald, bullish, real-life mobster will likely place MacIntyre's movie among the more commercial nonfiction films of the year.
  79. Felon
    Stephen Dorff's powerhouse perf as an ordinary Joe trapped behind bars with warring ethnic psychopaths propels Felon well ahead of its expose/exploitation brethren while still avoiding the pious learning curves of Frank Darabont's prestige prison dramas.
  80. Berlin
    Less groundbreaking video experimentation than extraordinary concert experience, Lou Reed's Berlin expertly fulfills its function.
  81. Transsiberian
    An engagingly up-to-date melodrama steeped in local color and steered by a treacherous sense of morality.
  82. Before I Forget
    If you've pondered how to order a round of fellatio as one orders a pizza or wondered what gay gentlemen of a certain age talk about, this touching glimpse of faded beauty and looming decrepitude fits the bill.
  83. Mad Detective
    A neat idea that doesn't quite hit the bull's-eye.
  84. Hellboy II: The Golden Army
    Not to disparage the f/x guys, but what's onscreen in Hellboy II is all about the seismic eruptions in del Toro's head. Comparing his work to most fantasy cinema is like comparing cave drawings to the Cathedral of Cologne.
  85. Journey to the Center of the Earth
    A more unavoidable obstacle here is that there's not much in the way of plot -- the story is in the tour through the labyrinthian intimacies of inner Earth. As such, it's an f/x wizard's dream, and Brevig makes the most of it.
  86. Meet Dave
    Aimed squarely at the same family audiences that flocked to Murphy's "Doctor Dolittle" comedies, this is a lightly amusing and surprisingly sweet Fox release.
  87. Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
    A mesmerizing portrait of the director as acclaimed artist and tortured human being.
  88. August
    This middling drama has no glaring faults, but simply lacks the intended urgency.
  89. Das wilde Leben
    One long tease -- not in a voyeuristic sense, since its heroine, as nakedly incarnated by pouty Polish sexpot Natalia Avelon, hides none of her obvious talents under a bushel.
  90. Garden Party
    Isn't racy enough to warrant the word of mouth necessary to make pic a sensation with its generation, the way the unrelated disaffected-twentysomething hit "Garden State" was.
  91. Death Defying Acts
    A handsome contraption that's never very engaging, let alone convincing.
  92. The Stone Angel
    Prolific helmer Kari Skogland draws a fiery performance from vet Burstyn and a beguiling one from Christine Horne as the young Hagar. Yet the book's sheer "Giant"-like scope necessitates generational cross-cutting that's both rushed and cluttered; pic would have have been better served as a more leisurely miniseries.
  93. Harold
    A terminally lame puberty comedy.
  94. Full Battle Rattle
    A so-so pic on an incendiary subject, Full Battle Rattle follows the training regimen of one battalion during engagement and occupation in one of 13 fake "villages" comprising a massive Iraq simulation somewhere in the Mojave Desert.
  95. Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
    Subject's career being inextricably tied to two extremely entertaining U.S. decades, Gonzo has a wealth of delightful archival footage to draw on, both directly involving Thompson and evoking the cultural landscape around him.
  96. Holding Trevor
    Sometimes succeeds, but mostly comes off as a vanity project for writer-star Brent Gorski.
  97. Kabluey
    Kabluey is short on the cutes and ca-ca jokes. But it's also short on substance, despite a watchable supporting cast and an amiable overall tenor.
  98. Diminished Capacity
    A God's little acre's worth of premeditated eccentricity runs through Diminished Capacity, a triumphant losers-in-Cornville comedy starring Matthew Broderick in a role he might have phoned in, and Alan Alda as a combination Jed Clampett and Raymond Babbitt.
  99. The Wackness
    The Amerindie annals are over-full of withdrawn male loners hoping to quirk or cathart themselves out of teenage purgatory. But like "Donnie Darko," "Thumbsucker" and a few others, The Wackness treads this familiar terrain with assurance and distinction.
  100. Tell No One
    Though almost laughably intricate in its plotting, this thoroughly Gallic adaptation of Harlan Coben's novel reps an entertaining sophomore outing for thesp-turned-director Guillaume Canet.
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