Variety's Scores

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For 17,786 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 2.4 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: 9,137 out of 17786
  2. Mixed: 7,013 out of 17786
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17786
17786 movie reviews
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  1. Reconstruction
    Valiant attempt to innovate in the well-trod realm of Boy Meets Girl doesn't quite coalesce despite a thoughtful and distinctive visual approach.
  2. Head in the Clouds
    A lively, plush but unconvincing potboiler cobbled from familiar pieces of better films (and TV miniseries).
  3. Swordfish
    A half-absorbing, half-ridiculous techno-thriller that often goes too far in search of audience-rousing effects.
  4. The Yes Men
    Sometimes feels like an extended pilot for a smarty-pants broadcast series in the tradition of Michael Moore's "Awful Truth" and "TV Nation" skeins.
  5. Latter Days
    Falls back on the broad characterizations and stereotypical situations that typified the earliest gay-themed movies, while preaching a familiar (though not entirely ingenuous) message of tolerance.
  6. Mr 3000
    Never generates enough laughs to escape the infield. It doesn't help that this is a sports movie that lacks any suspense or dramatic tension about what transpires on the field, and Mac plays such a self-absorbed jerk through most of the film that rooting interest is minimal.
  7. The Rage in Placid Lake
    Melds an insightful observational style with some rather clunky satire and the resulting mix is uneven at best.
  8. Conspiracy Theory
    A below-par star vehicle for Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, Conspiracy Theory is a sporadically amusing but listless thriller that wears its humorous, romantic and political components like mismatched articles of clothing.
  9. Cecil B. DeMented
    Diverting but uneven.
  10. Down with Love
    Stars Zellweger and McGregor are too knowingly nudge-wink in their performances, too much contrived constructs to become real characters, let alone fuel the romantic comedy engine and make an audience care much whether they end up together.
  11. The Other Side of Heaven
    Rousing, family-friendly item has a big, epic look and state-of-the-art visual effects, which help to make pic -- a high-profile example of the mainstreaming of Christian entertainment.
  12. The Raspberry Reich
    This ostensible spoof of "radical chic" is, like his previous works, at once amusingly outrageous and slightly dull.
  13. Black Hawk Down
    Goes down like stiff medicine, leaving one feeling exhausted relief when it's finally over.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Halloween
    After a promising opening, Halloween becomes just another maniac-on-the-loose suspenser. However, despite the prosaic plot, director John Carpenter has timed the film's gore so that the 93-minute item is packed with enough thrills.
  15. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
    The film lacks the accompanying media spotlight that boosted the Moore release and therefore appears unlikely to reach beyond a liberal audience with an already vehement aversion to Fox News' partisan coverage.
  16. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!
    A warm embrace of broadly but humanely sketched characters plus some scrappy casting of rising young stars led by an incandescent Kate Bosworth help overcome the half-realized comedic situations.
  17. Fools Rush In
    In a role that Tom Hanks might have played a decade or so ago, Perry is pretty bland and doesn't provide any hints as to why Alex is so emotionally stymied.
  18. Next Friday
    A few good laughs but few surprises in Next Friday, an amiably unfocused sequel.
  19. The Golden Bowl
    A deliberately paced literary film that takes too long to build narrative momentum and explore its central dramatic conflicts.
  20. Love & Sex
    Valerie Breiman’s exceedingly slick feature is one of those cutesy items in which the characters talk about nothing but relationships and themselves.
  21. Very Bad Things
    Basically a very conventional movie gussied up with a few jaw-dropping moments. Unlike genuinely amoral pics such as "Heathers" or "Shallow Grave," it never seems really comfortable with its characters' actions.
  22. Anna and the King
    Her (Foster's) performance is contained in a schmaltzy, ultra-elaborate, overly long production.
  23. The Dust Factory
    A muddled metaphysical allegory that isn't nearly sunny enough to camouflage its darker undercurrents.
  24. The Big Bounce
    Modestly engaging, albeit instantly forgettable shaggy-dog story only gradually reveals itself as a seriocomic take on standard-issue noir.
  25. Get Over It
    A mildly diverting, largely inoffensive teen laffer that's long on cartoonish high school hijinks but short on dramatic concentration and crucial story details.
  26. Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed
    Sequel is louder and more elaborate (and even slightly longer) than predecessor, but the law of diminishing returns has caught up with this franchise.
  27. P.S.
    Laura Linney’s beautiful performance is most of the story in p.s.
  28. Sex Is Comedy
    A not terribly creative movie about the creative process.
  29. Bright Young Things
    An easy-to-digest slice of literate entertainment for upscale and older audiences that lacks a significant emotional undertow to make it a truly involving -- rather than simply voyeuristic -- experience.
  30. The Hunting of the President
    Content is engrossing (if so fast-paced that uninformed viewers might easily get lost), but packaging is sometimes questionable.
  31. In the Cut
    Beautifully crafted and highlighted by an arresting change-of-pace perf by Meg Ryan as an English teacher erotically awakened by a homicide detective. But the story's unpalatable narrative holes and dramatic missteps will hold sway over the pic's better qualities.
  32. The Replacement Killers
    This mechanical effort is studied rather than heartfelt and will disappoint aficionados and thwart potential fans.
  33. All the Real Girls
    Director David Gordon Green has created some fresh, penetrating, beautifully drawn scenes of one-on-one intimacy…But some of what surrounds these interludes is variously misguided, fuzzy and borderline pretentious.
  34. Deep Impact
    The season's first comet-targets-Earth special effects extravaganza is spectacular enough in its cataclysmic scenes of the planet being devastated by an unstoppable fireball, but proves far from thrilling in the down time spent with a largely dull assortment of troubled human beings.
  35. I Spy
    It's precisely the lineup of familiar past work that makes I Spy pretty dull goods, invigorated mainly by the sharp interplay between Murphy and Wilson, both of whom shine best when they have a sidekick to work with.
  36. Dr. Dolittle
    Slim on story and rife with scatological jokes, the film may strike a chord with pre-teens but misses for an older crowd despite some nifty effects and broad humor.
  37. Farmingville
    Sincere but unexceptional.
  38. The Hillside Strangler
    Plays as a blackly comic slice of mock '70s-style exploitation that flirts with the viewer before applying its chokehold.
  39. Big Girls Don't Cry
    A moderately successful attempt to ape the standard Hollywood teen movie.
  40. Daredevil
    This franchise-hungry champion of the underdog brings no sense of fun to his pursuit of bad guys; it's just the fate he's stuck with.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Waiting for Guffman
    The enterprise comes across like a bunch of talented friends making an elaborate home movie for their own amusement.
    • 18 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Gigli
    Arrives carrying more baggage than a Greyhound bus, which may distract moviegoers from what is a silly but still an enjoyably written and performed romantic comedy.
  43. The Ladykillers
    The souffle falls a little flat in The Ladykillers, a Coen brothers black comedy in which the humor seems arch and narrative momentum doesn't kick in until the final third.
  44. She Hate Me
    A scabrous, provocative and often funny social satire about the American dream, Spike Lee's flawed but fascinating She Hate Me addresses everything from corporate malfeasance to the African AIDS epidemic, barely catching its breath in-between.
  45. Seducing Doctor Lewis
    Though harmless and amusing, this Quebecois comedy set in an impoverished fishing village is a bit too festooned with provincial humor and a bit too short on memorable perfs or feel-good climaxes to break out commercially beyond French-speaking Canadian territories.
  46. Starsky & Hutch
    Blessed with sporadic moments of cheeky fun, isn't painful but seldom advances beyond costumes and hairstyling in terms of creativity.
  47. Happy Hour
    Fortunately bypassing a re-run of "Days of Wine and Roses" but finding little inspiration to freshen an old concept, this tragedy about a lover and a friend helplessly watching the writer's fade-out comes up short of its potential impact.
  48. Callas Forever
    Main body of the movie is weighed down by flat, expository dialogue and a lot of pedestrian filming. However, Zeffirelli's shooting of the "Carmen" sequences, which make up a sizable chunk of the film and are far and away the pic's most exhilarating sections, are graceful and fluid.
  49. Silent Water
    Worthy intentions are drowned by schematic scripting and only OK direction in Silent Waters, an achingly PC drama on how Islamic fundamentalism wrecks families and oppresses women.
  50. Returner
    Kaneshiro is all long flowing locks and smoldering disdain, the visual F/X are only so-so, and pacing is almost brisk enough to hide the plot holes.
  51. Undertow
    A deep-fried piece of Southern Gothic that wears its unpleasantness like a merit badge.
  52. The Dreamers
    The whole spirit of rebellion, passion and protest that should be a driving force for the characters plays more like a cultivated affectation.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    My Own Private Idaho
    The Shakespearean side of the story falls short due to Reeves' very narrow range as an actor.
  54. Thirteen Ghosts
    The actors manage to keep from being upstaged by the sets, though just barely. Abraham goes over the top, then further still.
  55. The Iron Ladies
    Its screaming-queen stereotypes will look pretty retro in most Western markets, even if an earnest pro-tolerance message disarms potential offense.
  56. The Last Shot
    Contains most of the elements of a "Get Shorty"-type romp without the character depth and wit.
  57. National Security
    Comes off as a retro reprise of those slam-bang, buddy-buddy action-comedies that proliferated throughout the '80s in the wake of "48 HRS."
  58. Along Came Polly
    Writer-director John Hamburg does everything he can to pair up Ben Stiller's stiff, safety-first corporate man with Jennifer Aniston's free spirit in Along Came Polly, but the two are so fundamentally incompatible that story loses credibility long before the gags stop coming.
  59. Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London
    Mildly diverting caper.
  60. House of the Dead
    Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on just how much 14-year-old boy you've got in ya.
  61. Van Wilder
    There's nary a comic idea in Van Wilder that isn't ripped off from a recent Farrelly brothers movie. But that doesn't stop Van Wilder from being very funny, provided you're not easily offended.
  62. When Will I Be Loved
    Campbell's performance is attuned to the extremes of unnerving calm and intensely erotic; unlike the pic, she pulls it off.
  63. Independence Day
    The cutting-edge perfection of effects in Cameron and Spielberg films is replaced here by work that looks more homemade, particularly toward the end in some faintly cheesy composite shots.
  64. The Mother
    A portrait of a contempo British family drifting apart because of generational differences, The Mother ends up an uneasy brew of too many competing tastes and themes.
  65. Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times
    Offers a lively introduction to the highly articulate political dissident and to his controversial views on 9/11.
  66. Woman Thou Art Loosed
    Notable for Kimberly Elise's ferocious lead performance and for the bigscreen exposure pic affords the charismatic Bishop T.D. Jakes, who plays himself and upon whose works the film is based.
  67. Valentin
    The choice to have Valentin narrate the tale and make philosophical observations beyond his years becomes irritating at times; ditto the cartoon humor.
  68. The Matrix Revolutions
    You can virtually see the mystique peeling away while beholding the turgid melodrama, patchy plotting, windy dialogue and, yes, spectacular combat effects of this grand finale.
  69. The Hebrew Hammer
    Although amusing as often as not, the material remains more comedy-sketch fodder than a fully developed feature.
  70. Hollow Man
    Pic's future as a cult item is a sure bet.
  71. Payback
    Not an embarrassment, but it's not distinguished, either.
  72. Save the Last Dance
    Grounded in bedrock formula and earnestness.
  73. The Ring
    Comes across in muted fashion, with uninvolving characters and lack of genuine excitement or fright creating a second-rate, second-hand feel.
  74. Warriors of Heaven and Earth
    A handsome although dramatically muddled Noodle Western.
  75. Bubba Ho-tep
    Mismatched marriage of offbeat character study and unimaginative horror riffs. Most compelling element by far is Bruce Campbell's inspired performance as a nursing home patient who insists he is the real Elvis Presley.
  76. Malèna
    Combining a coming-of-age story with the sad odyssey of a woman punished for her beauty, the film ultimately has too little depth, subtlety, thematic consequence or contemporary relevance.
    • Variety
  77. Purple Butterfly
    An often remarkable, often infuriating lateral spin on genre material that desperately needs another sesh at the editing table.
  78. What Planet Are You From?
    Good for a few lascivious titters but quite lacking in the sort of comic bite and social satire one hopes for in the work of Mike Nichols.
  79. Bruce Almighty
    There's remarkably little done with a premise snatched from high-concept heaven, adding yet another file to the growing cabinet of under-realized comedies.
  80. Conspiracy of Silence
    Deery lays out a story devoid of subtlety, in which characters are too easily pigeonholed and issues exist only in absolutes.
  81. Bush's Brain
    By turns darkly comical, seriously scary and purposefully incendiary, Bush's Brain may seem, depending on your politics, either a shamelessly one-sided assault on a popular U.S. president or a justifiably harsh critique of a politician who personifies the Peter Principle.
  82. Batman & Robin
    Unfortunately, the operative word is bland, as the newcomers don't add much to the formula, leaving it to their nemeses to enliven the proceedings. Narrative drive and humor are also in short supply, which creates a serious sagsag in the middle when the novelty of the fresh components has mostly worn off.
  83. Jersey Girl
    A bland slab of sentimental hokum that proves even the most smart-alecky of indie auteurs can turn warm and fuzzy on occasion.
  84. The Last Samurai
    As rich in period and historical background as it is deficient in fresh dramatic and thematic ideas.
  85. Queen of the Damned
    Handsomely mounted, this direly conventional bit of vampire business is enlivened by flashes of humor and game performances. It isn't great entertainment or camp, but pic sets its ambitions so low, it can't help partially delivering on them.
  86. Resident Evil
    Despite a promising setup, pic never really goes anywhere, instead immersing viewers in a kinetic onslaught of flesh (namely, that of Milla Jovovich) and flesh-eaters (most of the rest of the cast).
  87. Scary Movie 3
    Results here are just middling funny, with no truly memorable high points and a sum impact that goes poof!
  88. True Romance
    It doesn't add up to enough, as preposterous plotting and graphic violence ultimately prove an audience turnoff.
  89. After the Sunset
    While After the Sunset is never exactly dull and is smartly cut to a brief running time, it never quickens the pulse.
  90. Thunderbirds
    The story rarely gets fired up to "maximum thrust," to use the rocket-speed parlance of its heroes.
  91. The Young Black Stallion
    A visually opulent but dramatically undernourished prequel to the 1979 hit of almost the same name.
  92. The Perfect Storm
    The yarn's emotional undercurrents never take hold, resulting in a picture that leaves one thinking less about the fates of the characters than about how the actors had to spend most of their working days soaking wet.
  93. The Replacements
    A frankly formulaic but agreeably funny comedy about has-beens, wannabes and never-weres.
  94. Underworld
    Takes itself so seriously that it never has fun with its shopworn genre elements.
  95. Dawn of the Dead
    More palatable than "Texas," Dawn also seems even less necessary, given how effectively the original was reworked last year in Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later."
  96. The Pianist
    Surprisingly lacks a feeling of personal urgency and insight that would have made it a distinctive, even unique contribution to the considerable number of films that deal with the war in general and Holocaust in particular.
  97. The Village
    A watchable film for awhile that unravels in a muddled last act likely to send many opening-weekend filmgoers home head-scratching and grumbling.
  98. Wonderland
    Has absolutely nothing to say about its characters and their lamentable actions.
  99. The Beach
    Visually resplendent but dramatically uneven.
  100. Moonlight Mile
    A movie at war with itself -- tuned into its characters' vicissitudes one moment, stumbling with awkward stabs at goofiness the next.
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