Variety's Scores

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For 17,847 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: 9,172 out of 17847
  2. Mixed: 7,036 out of 17847
  3. Negative: 1,639 out of 17847
17847 movie reviews
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  1. Right at Your Door
    Chris Gorak grabs the viewer by the throat in the first few minutes, but quickly fritters away involvement by concentrating almost exclusively on two characters who are both annoying and boring.
  2. September Dawn
    The didactic presentation, grim speechifying and tacked-on love story all signify a less-than-healthy regard for the audience's intelligence.
  3. War
    Quickly devolves into a standard-issue crime drama laced with routine martial artistry.
  4. Eye of the Dolphin
    There's a pleasantly dreamy quality to much of Eye of the Dolphin, and that goes a long way toward enabling audiences to ignore the formulaic plot and enjoy the laid-back charms of this innocuous indie.
  5. The Hottest State
    Patchy lead perfs and mannered helming subtract value from pic's tangible plus points (solid supporting turns, pleasant score).
  6. Hannah Takes the Stairs
    Has the unmistakable look and feel of a micro-budget indie produced for a small circle of friends, many of whom are listed in the credits.
  7. Superbad
    The bawdy jokes score big points, but it's the rueful acknowledgement of adolescent embarrassment and humiliation that most distinguishes Superbad, another ultra-raunchy and commercial sex comedy from the Judd Apatow laugh factory.
  8. Death at a Funeral
    With a circus parade of mourning Brits and enough appalling circumstances to set proper Englishness back to the Dark Ages, Death at a Funeral pits decorum against sex, drugs and dysfunction.
  9. Them
    Romania-set scare-fest deploys the full cinematic vocabulary of creepy sounds and hostile intruders.
  10. Manda Bala (Send a Bullet)
    Crammed into a lively 85-minute package delivered with loads of dark humor and cinematic flair, this is a worthy winner of Sundance's Grand Jury prize for documentary.
  11. The 11th Hour
    Presents the viewer with reams of depressing data, loads of hand-wringing about the woeful state of humanity and, finally, some altogether fascinating ideas about how to go about solving the climate crisis.
  12. The Invasion
    A slick but forgettable, characterless thriller.
  13. The Last Legion
    Seriously hampered by glaring inconsistencies of tone and intent, and often feels like a series of highlights carved out of a much longer epic.
  14. Sunflower
    With a commanding performance by Sun Haiying as the unbending, ornery father, and a glammed-down Joan Chen remarkable as the boy's devoted mom, pic serves up solid dramatic values instead of being yet another panorama of social and political changes in China during the late 20th century.
  15. Chak De India!
    Shaky handheld lensing, terrific cutting and uplifting music build to a grandstand finish in which the main characters are bound tightly into the physical drama. It ain't subtle, but it packs a punch at a simple emotional level.
  16. Primo Levi's Journey
    Sensitive, sobering, and tinged with respectful melancholy, Primo Levi's Journey retraces the enforced peregrinations of the great Italian chemist following his release from Auschwitz.
  17. Delirious
    An all-or-nothing perf from old DiCillo hand Steve Buscemi and a script that leaves no ironical stone unturned make this laugh-out-loud fare.
  18. Zebraman
    The special effects are quality fun, the humor only a little Japanese, and the story boasts the offbeat genre twists Miike lovers clamber for.
  19. Love for Sale
    Film has major assets in Walter Carvalho's stunning landscapes and livewire young lead Hermila Guedes, but overall, it's too uninvolving.
  20. Skinwalkers
    Plays more like '70s drive-in fare than a monster mash of recent vintage.
  21. Cut Sleeve Boys
    No amount of Botox or false eyelashes can rejuvenate helmer Ray Yeung's Cut Sleeve Boys, which recycles way too many gay cliches.
  22. Descent
    Pic's message is the one thing that's made clear: A victim can sink lower than her predator. Whether receiving that message justifies the cost of watching Descent is another question.
  23. Rocket Science
    This unusually voluble comedy is as eloquent about love, self-realization and adolescent angst as its protagonist is endearingly tongue-tied.
  24. Rush Hour 3
    The latest picture to feature one of the movies’ oddest crime-fighting tandems nevertheless stays true to the franchise formula of East-West fusion action, broad cultural comedy and international intrigue, this time largely in Paris.
  25. Stardust
    Sprinkled with tongue-in-cheek humor, fairly adult jokes and some well-known faces acting very silly, this adventure story should have particular appeal to fans of "The Princess Bride," but in any event will never be mistaken for a strictly-for-kids movie.
  26. Crossing the Line
    Film's rarity value and still-hot subject matter make this required viewing.
  27. Daddy Day Camp
    This sequel to the 2003 Eddie Murphy comedy may appeal to auds still young enough not to have seen it all before, or who still find flatulence hilarious, or who think adults, when agitated, flail about like epileptic marionettes.
  28. In Paris
    Inside Paris is that rarity, a genuinely honest, unpretentious and delightful, small film, alternately sober and effervescent, steering clear of either heavy-going philosophizing or dreaded whimsy.
  29. The Bourne Ultimatum
    A pounding, pulsating thriller that provides an almost constant adrenaline surge for nearly two hours.
  30. The Ten
    Second feature from duo David Wain and Ken Marino of comedy group the State is, like their "Wet Hot American Summer," uneven but often hilarious.
  31. Becoming Jane
    An ersatz "Pride and Prejudice" in all but name, Becoming Jane is a finely tooled Brit-lit costumer that, like Anne Hathaway's flawless accent as the young Austen, lacks only that final convincing 5%.
  32. La faute à Fidel!
    Wonderfully engaging look at 1970-71 from a child's p.o.v.
  33. Bratz
    Bratz’s references and parodies are consistently on-target, if always way too over-the-top. Every line of dialogue could plausibly take an exclamation point.
  34. Hot Rod
    Those hoping for feature-length doses of Samberg's "Lazy Sunday" wit will have to settle for just plain lazy, as Hot Rod aims low and still manages to miss its target.
  35. If I Didn't Care
    Featuring a strong central perf by Bill Sage, a raincoated detective turn by Roy Scheider and the upscale autumnal serenity of the Hamptons, If I Didn't Care remains a stylistic exercise in elegant gratuitousness.
  36. Underdog
    Falls somewhere between stale retread and half-hearted parody of superhero-movie formulas.
  37. El cantante
    A virtual template of every imaginable cliche of the musical biopic, picture suffers from a lack of narrative and character focus
  38. Gandhi, My Father
    Classy production values and a textured lead performance by Darshan Jariwala are undercut by a lack of real drama in Gandhi My Father.
  39. Laura Smiles
    Sharp dialogue, idiosyncratic characters and a wickedly brilliant structure that subtly derails expectation make Laura Smiles a rarity among mellers.
  40. No End in Sight
    With an accountant's eye for precision and a political scientist's grasp of the machinations that move national policy, Charles Ferguson's No End in Sight itemizes the errors, misjudgments and follies that have defined the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq.
  41. I Know Who Killed Me
    Much like the ongoing real-world meltdown of its troubled star, Lindsay Lohan, I Know Who Killed Me is a disaster that exerts a perverse fascination.
  42. Molière
    Romance, creativity, subterfuge and repartee are among the pleasures to be had in Moliere, a consistently diverting, bittersweet costumer.
  43. No Reservations
    Agreeably prepared and attractively presented, this remake of the tasty 2001 German feature "Mostly Martha" bears too many earmarks of Hollywood packaging and emotional button-pushing, but doesn't go far wrong by closely sticking to the original's smart story construction.
  44. The Simpsons Movie
    Put simply, if somebody had to make a "Simpsons" movie, this is pretty much what it should be -- clever, irreverent, satirical and outfitted with a larger-than-22-minutes plot, capable (just barely) of sustaining a narrative roughly four times the length of a standard episode.
  45. This Is England
    With its knockout lead perfs and taut if slightly familiar construction, this '80s-set dramedy about a skinhead gang reps Meadows' most fluently made film so far.
  46. Who's Your Caddy?
    An instantly forgettable trifle.
  47. Arctic Tale
    Queen Latifah proves an amiably authoritative narrator, and is allowed more personality than most script readers.
  48. The Devil Came on Horseback
    While the point of view of privileged, Anglo observers on African issues usually raises hackles, such is not the case with The Devil Came on Horseback, a tense account of former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle's witnessing of the genocide in Sudan's western province of Darfur.
  49. The Sugar Curtain
    Those on both sides of the great Cuba divide should find food for thought in these sober, realistic reflections.
  50. Cashback
    Slickly charming, genteelly erotic and directed with supreme polish, Cashback is a conventional romantic comedy that plays unconventional games with time and memory.
  51. Goya's Ghosts
    Ambitious script is stranded between entertainment and intellectualism, leaving us with a magnificent folly, thoroughly watchable for its visuals but ultimately hollow.
  52. Hairspray
    It's one of the best Broadway-tuner adaptations in recent years -- yes, arguably even better than those Oscar-winning ones.
  53. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
    The kind of buddy comedy Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau might have starred in 40 years ago, when the material would have felt less dated, if no less silly.
  54. Sunshine
    Like a collapsing star, Sunshine initially burns brightly but finally implodes into a dramatic black hole.
  55. Your Mommy Kills Animals
    There are no good guys or bad guys in this propulsive film, but there's enough in the way of odd characters and bad behavior to amuse and inform auds who only marginally care about the content.
  56. Live-In Maid
    A fairly successful attempt at satire, though given the subject, there's a lot of darkness under the carpet.
  57. Hula Girls
    Utterly predictable but it sure is a lot of fun.
  58. Interview
    Afforded a comparatively rare chance to stretch out in a complex lead role, Buscemi is excellent.
  59. My Best Friend
    Well-turned adult comedy.
  60. Talk to Me
    Alternates too deliberately between jaunty comedy and serious message-making.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tekkonkinkreet
    Strained metaphysics dovetail with urban and architectural nostalgia in the exquisitely realized, minutely detailed Japanese anime Tekkonkinkreet.
  62. Time
    Script is sometimes confusingly structured, and in its second half doesn't move as smoothly from scene to scene as in Kim's best pics.
  63. Captivity
    Destined to be better remembered for its grisly billboard imagery than for its relatively tame torture-porn tropes, Captivity is a thoroughly nasty piece of work that nonetheless earns credit for generating modest suspense after a predictable but effective plot twist around the 50-minute mark.
  64. Shortcut to Happiness
    Less compelling than all the behind-the-scenes Sturm und Drang. Even Baldwin, who waived his directing credit in favor of the pseudonymous Harry Kirkpatrick, has warned fans to stay away.
  65. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
    Considerably grimmer and grittier than the previous pictures.
  66. Drama/Mex
    An unerring compositional eye plus firm control of an inventive structure keep Drama/Mex well within the attention span, even when the script wanders without seeming to know why.
  67. Joshua
    A creepy-little-kid suspenser decked out with sufficient class to lend it a certain distinction.
  68. The Method
    Smartly and seamlessly blending a cast of talented Argentine and Spanish thesps, Pineyro seems to be testing how much cinema he can derive from a restricted space.
  69. Introducing the Dwights
    Warm and entertaining enough, with Brenda Blethyn doing a variation on her "Little Voice" vulgarian amid appealing support perfs.
  70. Rescue Dawn
    As far as establishing a sense of period goes, Herzog cleaves to a refreshing less-is-more philosophy. This may be the first Vietnam-set film in history not to feature a bar of Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones or indeed any other rock music on its soundtrack.
  71. Transformers
    Big, loud and full of testosterone-fueled car fantasies, Michael Bay's actioner hits a new peak for CGI work, showcasing spectacular chases and animated transformation sequences seamlessly blended into live-action surroundings.
  72. License to Wed
    Pic is at best a relatively harmless way to enjoy air conditioning for those who admire Williams' ability to riff, even at his most irritating.
  73. Ratatouille
    Ratatouille is delicious. In this satisfying, souffle-light tale of a plucky French rodent with a passion for cooking, the master chefs at Pixar have blended all the right ingredients -- abundant verbal and visual wit, genius slapstick timing, a soupcon of Gallic sophistication -- to produce a warm and irresistible concoction that's sure to appeal to everyone's inner Julia Child.
  74. Sicko
    An affecting and entertaining dissection of the American health care industry, showing how it benefits the few at the expense of the many.
  75. Evening
    Individual moments are not without their felicitous touches -- mainly due to the cast, which is rich to the point of improbability.
  76. One to Another
    A bland, perverse round-robin of teen angst.
  77. Vitus
    A natural for kidfests, pic is a fine example of old-fashioned story-telling and also will dance wherever detailed character development and leisurely-paced drama are appreciated.
  78. Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox
    Tyro helmer Sara Lamm satisfyingly stitches together the family soap opera into a comfortable crazy quilt without sacrificing its unique, oddly topical edge.
  79. Live Free or Die Hard
    The sheer quantity of often outrageous stunts should help overcome franchise mustiness to entertain.
  80. Ghosts of Cité Soleil
    Rough as can be in both content and style, Ghosts will be welcome everywhere tough, provocative docus are shown.
  81. In Between Days
    Revealing without being especially compelling, In Between Days offers a bleak, rigorously naturalistic portrait of an Asian-American teenager's physical and emotional dislocation.
  82. Over the GW
    Too narratively disjointed to achieve maximum impact, but too emotionally potent in fits and starts to be dismissed out of hand. Ultimately, Over the GW resembles nothing so much as a rough draft for a more conventional feature.
  83. 1408
    For star John Cusack, it's a perfect fit.
  84. Evan Almighty
    It's mildly diverting for kids and families in a way that would be perfectly fine as an ABC Family cable project.
  85. A Mighty Heart
    In his first studio venture, Michael Winterbottom coaxes forth a staggering wealth of detail from this terse, methodical account of Pearl's kidnapping and murder in Pakistan.
  86. Black Sheep
    Endearingly amusing horror pic.
  87. Broken English
    A pitch-perfect lead performance by Parker Posey and debuting feature writer-helmer Zoe Cassavetes' deft, low-key approach raise Broken English a couple notches above the usual run of lonely-single-woman-seeking-romance-in-the-big-city yarns.
  88. You Kill Me
    With an eclectic mix of strong-minded thesps all pulling in slightly different directions, this shape-shifting genre hybrid successfully commingles 12-step therapy, romantic comedy and hit-man thriller.
  89. Klimt
    Billed as a phantasmagoria rather than a biopic, Klimt falls into the philosophical conundrum it attempts to resurrect -- whether portrait and allegory can coexist. Notwithstanding moments of great beauty, in this case the answer is clearly "no."
  90. Longing
    Big emotional themes come hidden in a deceptively small package in Longing, a mightily impressive feature debut by German writer-director Valeska Grisebach.
  91. Manufactured Landscapes
    This landmark glimpse into China's modern-day industrial revolution becomes something more -- a profound, open-ended meditation on man's physical impact on his environment.
  92. White Palms
    An uncommonly resonant sports drama in which a talented yet troubled gymnast comes to terms with a turbulent past.
  93. DOA: Dead or Alive
    So insubstantial that it practically evaporates on screen.
  94. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
    At a time when tortured superheroes like Spider-Man, Superman and Batman would benefit from some serious psychotherapy, it's almost refreshing to see a comicbook caper as blithe, weightless and cheerfully dumb as Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Nancy Drew
    Purportedly an attempt to modernize the young detective's adventures for a new generation of tweens, the pic instead serves up stale mystery-movie cliches and overcooked red herrings in a thoroughly wooden adaptation.
  96. Eagle vs Shark
    Result is still innocuously mild and inconsequential.
  97. Fido
    Brightly packaged and steadily amusing.
  98. When the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan
    A potent combination of ethnography and concert film, Brit helmer Jasmine Dellal's joyous celebration of tzigane music follows the 2001 U.S. "Gypsy Caravan" tour, which showcased five bands from four countries.
  99. Strike
    Continuing the late-career renaissance of historically urgent, politically engaged fiction filmmaking that began with 1999's "The Legend of Rita" and 2004's "The Ninth Day" German vet Volker Schloendorff stumbles slightly, but doesn't fall, with Poland-set Solidarity saga Strike.
  100. The Trials of Darryl Hunt
    Advocacy cinema at its most searingly direct, The Trials of Darryl Hunt is a powerful and unsettling chronicle of the 20-year struggle to free a man twice convicted of a crime he didn't commit.
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