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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    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Far from the Madding Crowd
    Julie Christie, Peter Finch, Terence Stamp and Alan Bates are variedly handsome and have their many effective moments, but there is little they can ultimately and lastingly do to overcome the basic banality of their characters and, to a certain degree, their lines.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Reflections in a Golden Eye
    A pretentious melodrama.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bonnie and Clyde
    This inconsistency of direction is the most obvious fault of Bonnie and Clyde, which has some good ingredients, although they are not meshed together well.
  4. In the Heat of the Night
    An excellent Sidney Poitier performance, and an outstanding one by Rod Steiger, overcome some noteworthy flaws to make In The Heat of the Night an absorbing contemporary murder drama, set in the deep, red-necked South.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Dirty Dozen
    Lee Marvin heads a very strong, nearly all-male cast in an excellent performance.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    To Sir, with Love
    A well-made, sometimes poignant, drama.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    You Only Live Twice
    Donald Pleasence makes a suitably menacing German heavy who appears in film’s final scenes.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    El Dorado
    An excellent oater drama, laced with adroit comedy and action relief, and set off by strong casting, superior direction and solid production.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The War Wagon
    The War Wagon is an entertaining, exciting western drama of revenge, laced with action and humor. Strong scripting, performances and direction are evident, enhanced by terrif exterior production values.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Barefoot in the Park
    A thoroughly entertaining comedy delight about young marriage.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    The Way West
    Project probably looked good on paper, but washed out in scripting, direction and pacing. Incidents do not build to any climax; excepting the first and last reels, any others could be shown out of order with no apparent discontinuity.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Bob Dylan: Dont Look Back
    Pennebaker has fashioned a relentlessly honest, brilliantly edited documentary permeated with the troubador-poet's music.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    For a Few Dollars More
    A hard-hitting western with upper-case values out of the busy Italo stable, this is a topnotch action entry.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Casino Royale
    A film of astounding sloppiness, an insult to the Bond name (most likely deliberate) and a dark spot on the resumes of all involved (surely unintentional).
    • 78 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Two for the Road
    As far as producer, director, femme lead and screenwriter are concerned, this attempt to visually analyze the bits and pieces that go into making a marriage, and then making it work, is successful. If it drags a bit here and there, blame it on the stodgy performance of actor Albert Finney who is unable to convey the lightness, gaiety and romanticism needed.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hombre
    Hombre develops the theme that socially and morally disparate types are often thrown into uneasy, explosive alliance due to emergencies. Paul Newman is excellent as the scorned (but only supposed) Apache. Fredric March, essaying an Indian agent who has embezzled food appropriations for his charges, also scores in a strong, unsympathetic – but eventually pathetic – role. Richard Boone is very powerful, yet admirably restrained as the heavy.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chimes at Midnight
    A personal viewpoint, it mixes the grotesque, bawdy, comic and heroic, and does have a melancholy under its carousing and battles.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Frankenstein Created Woman
    In Frankenstein Created Woman the good doctor, as usual, played by Peter Cushing, doesn't really create woman, he just makes a few important changes in the design. Considering the result is beautiful blonde Susan Denberg, most film fans would like to see the doctor get a grant from the Ford Foundation, or even the CIA.
    • 86 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Persona
    Bergman has come up with probably one of his most masterful films technically and in conception, but also one of his most difficult ones.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    One Million Years B.C.
    Biggest novelty gimmick of this likely click for unsophisticated situations is that, despite four writers on screenplay [including director Michael Carreras], dialog is minimal, consisting almost entirely of grunts. More saleable gimmick is that, at last, the nubile Raquel Welch is on view.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A Fistful of Dollars
    This is a hard-hitting item, ably directed, splendidly lensed, neatly acted, which has all the ingredients wanted by action fans and then some.
    • Variety
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Gambit
    Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine star in a firstrate suspense comedy, cleverly scripted, expertly directed and handsomely mounted.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Grand Prix
    The roar and whine of engines sending men and machines hurtling over the 10 top road and track courses of Europe, the US and Mexico – the Grand Prix circuits – are the prime motivating forces of this actioncrammed adventure that director John Frankenheimer and producer Edward Lewis have interlarded with personal drama that is sometimes introspectively revealing, occasionally mundane, but generally a most serviceable framework.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Blow-Up
    As a commentary on a sordid, confused side of humanity in this modern age it's a bust.
  25. A Man for All Seasons
    Producer-director Fred Zinnemann has blended all filmmaking elements into an excellent, handsome and stirring film version of A Man For All Seasons.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    You're a Big Boy Now
    Francis Coppola has drawn topflight performances from his talented cast.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Cul-de-sac
    As a study in kinky insanity, Cul-de-Sac creates a tingling atmosphere. This sags riskily at times when the director unturns the screws and does not keep control of his frequently introduced comedy.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    What's Up, Tiger Lily?
    Take a Toho Films (Japan) crime meller [directed by Senkichi Taniguchi], fashioned in the James Bond tradition for the domestic market there, then turn loose Woody Allen and associates to dub and re-edit in camp-comedy vein, and the result is What’s Up, Tiger Lily? The production has one premise – deliberately mismatched dialog – which is sustained reasonably well through its brief running time.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Professionals
    Exciting explosive sequences, good overall pacing and acting overcome a sometimes thin script.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Fortune Cookie
    Generally amusing (often wildly so) but overlong.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Seconds
    US suburbia boredom is treated in an original manner in this cross between a sci-fi opus, a thriller, a suspense pic and a parable on certain aspects of American middle-class life.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Beau Geste
    Third time out for one of the most memorable silent films still packs hardy entertainment. The production is an expertly-made translation of Percival Christopher Wren's novel of the French Foreign Legion in a lonely Sahara outpost, distinguished by good acting, fine photographic values and fast direction. Guy Stockwell delineates the title role.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Fantastic Voyage
    Fantastic Voyage is just that. The lavish production, boasting some brilliant special effects and superior creative efforts, is an entertaining, enlightening excursion through inner space - the body of a man.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Alfie
    Alfie pulls few punches. With Michael Caine giving a powerfully strong performance as the woman-mad anti-hero, and with dialog and situations that are humorous, tangy, raw and, ultimately, often moving, the film may well shock. But behind its alley-cat philosophy, there's some shrewd sense, some pointed barbs and a sharp moral.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Batman: The Movie
    The acting is uniformly impressively improbable. The intense innocent enthusiasm of Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith and Frank Gorshin as the three criminals is balanced against the innocent calm of Adam West and Burt Ward, Batman and Robin respectively.
    • Variety
    • 55 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Torn Curtain
    Alfred Hitchcock's direction emphasizes suspense and ironic comedy flair but some good plot ideas are marred by routine dialog, and a too relaxed pace contributes to a dull overlength.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Fine Madness
    Too heavyhanded to be comedy, yet too light to be called drama, the well-mounted production depicts a non-conformist poet-stud in an environment of much sex, some violence and modern headshrinking. Fine direction and some good characterizations enhance negative script outlook.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
    The naked power and oblique tenderness of Edward Albee's incisive, inhuman drama have been transformed from legit into a brilliant motion picture. Keen adaptation and handsome production by Ernest Lehman, outstanding direction by Mike Nichols in his feature debut, and four topflight performances score an artistic bullseye.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Russians Are Coming the Russians Are Coming
    An outstanding cold-war comedy depicting the havoc created on a mythical Massachusetts island by the crew of a grounded Russian sub.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Alphabet Murders
    Much of the suspence of Christie's writing is lost in converting to comedy, and as a result is no more than a parody of the original, insufficiently clever to be outstanding.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Arabesque
    Arabesque packs the names of Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren and a foreign intrigue theme, but doesn't always progress on a true entertainment course. Fault lies in a shadowy plotline and confusing characters, particularly in the miscasting of Peck in a cute role.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Harper
    Some excellent directorial touches and solid thesping are evident in the colorful and plush production. Abundance of comedy and sometimes extraneous emphasis on cameo characters make for a relaxed pace and imbalanced concept, resulting in overlength and telegraphing of climax.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Singing Nun
    The Singing Nun, patently designed to cash in on the story of the Belgian nun Soeur Sourire and her song 'Dominique', carries an expectancy not always realized. Fictionized approach to the truelife character - necessitated by agreement with Catholic church authorities not to make pictures autobiographical - resultantly loses in the transition, and while there are engaging musical interludes what emerges is slight and frequently slow-moving.
    • 64 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Naked Prey
    Told with virtually no dialog, the story embodies a wide range of human emotion, depicted in actual on-scene photography which effects realism via semi-documentary feel.
  45. Band of Outsiders
    After shooting his most expensive film, Godard returned to the streets of Paris for the rough-hewn Band of Outsiders, which is 95 minutes of brilliant visual jazz. [31 Mar 2003, p.42]
    • Variety
  46. Doctor Zhivago
    The sweep and scope of the Russian revolution, as reflected in the personalities of those who either adapted or were crushed, has been captured by David Lean in Doctor Zhivago, frequently with soaring dramatic intensity. Director has accomplished one of the most meticulously designed and executed films--superior in several visual respects to his "Lawrence of Arabia."
    • 64 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Thunderball
    Terence Young takes advantage of every situation in his direction to maintain action at fever-pitch.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    A Patch of Blue
    Film has very good scripting plus excellent direction and performances, including an exceptional screen debut by Elizabeth Hartman as the gal.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    King & Country
    The story of Private Hamp, a deserter from the battle front in World War I, has already been told on radio, television and the stage, but undeterred by this exposure, director Joseph Losey has attacked the subject with confidence and vigor, and the result is a highly sensitive and emotional drama, enlivened by sterling performances and a sincere screenplay.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Juliet of the Spirits
    Fellini has put together an imperial-sized fantasy of a physical opulence to make the old Vincente Minnelli Metro musicals look like army training films.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Cincinnati Kid
    Adapted from Richard Jessup's realistically-written novel, it emerges a tenseful examination of the gambling fraternity.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Bunny Lake Is Missing
    What Preminger has achieved is an entertaining, fast-paced exercise in the exploration of a sick mind.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Hill
    It is a harsh, sadistic and brutal entertainment, superbly acted and made without any concessions to officialdom.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Help!
    The simple good spirits that pervaded A Hard Day's Night are now often smothered as if everybody is desperately trying to outsmart themselves and be ultra-clever-clever. Nevertheless, Help! is a good, nimble romp with both giggles and belly-laughs.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
    Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! is a somewhat sordid, quite sexy and very violent murder-kidnap-theft meller which includes elements of rape, lesbianism and sadism, clothed in faddish leather and boots and equipped with sports cars. Some good performances emerge from a one-note script via very good Russ Meyer direction and his outstanding editing.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Darling
    Christie almost perfectly captures the character of the immoral Diana, and very rarely misses her target.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Ipcress File
    Pic does not build up to the type of suspense usually demanded of such thrillers.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    These Are the Damned
    Although the cast is excellent, no one character dominates the action or overshadows the others. Joseph Losey's hand is so apparent that the film's considerable effectiveness must be accredited to him as must its few faults and the fearsome message it conveys.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Great Race
    The Great Race is a big, expensive, whopping, comedy extravaganza [from a screen story by Blake Edwards and Arthur Ross], long on slapstick and near-inspired tomfoolery whose tongue-in-cheek treatment liberally sprinkled with corn frequently garners belly laughs.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Cat Ballou
    Middlingly successful, sparked by an amusing way-out approach and some sparkling performances.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Sons of Katie Elder
    Wayne delivers one of his customary rugged portrayals, a little old, perhaps, to have such a young brother as Anderson but not so old that he lacks the attributes of a gunman. Martin, who plays his part with a little more humor than the others, is equally effective in a hardboiled characterization.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Pawnbroker
    There is little plot in the regular sense, but a series of episodes spanning just a few days of the present, which recall many harrowing experiences of the past. Some are absorbing, but others seem to lack the dramatic punch for which the director must have strived.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Operation Crossbow
    Ambitiously filmed in Europe and boasting production values which may seem to catch the spirit of the monumental effort, what the Carlo Ponti production lacks primarily is a cohesive story line.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Train
    After a slow start, The Train picks up to become a colorful, actionful big-scale adventure opus.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Sound of Music
    The Robert Wise production is a warmly pulsating, captivating drama set to the most imaginative use of the lilting R-H tunes, magnificently mounted and with a brilliant cast headed by Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer which must strike a respondent chord at the box office.
    • 49 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    None But the Brave
    Frank Sinatra, who also stars with Clint Walker and produces, makes his directorial bow and is responsible for some good effects in maintaining a suspenseful pace.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    36 Hours
    Based on Roald Dahl’s Beware of the Dog and a story of Carl K. Hittleman and Luis H. Vance, it provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse of high military intelligence at work.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Goldfinger
    There's not the least sign of staleness in this third sample of the Bond 007 formula. Some liberties have been taken with Ian Fleming's original novel but without diluting its flavor.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    My Fair Lady
    It has riches of story, humor, acting and production values far beyond the average big picture. It is Hollywood at its best.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Goodbye Charlie
    Even by delving into fantasy for its wildly implausible premise this picturization of George Axelrod's not-so-successful 1960 Broadway play doesn't come off as anything but the mildest type of entertainment.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Americanization of Emily
    Primarily interesting for the romance between Andrews and Garner.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Woman of Straw
    Director Basil Dearden seems, here, to have temporarily misplaced the vigorous insight that has earned him some top credits. Best that can be said of Straw [from the novel by Catherine Arley] is that it looks handsome. But the film gets bogged down by stilted dialog and by the situations.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Fail-Safe
    Fail Safe is a tense and suspenseful piece of filmmaking dealing with the frightening implications of accidental nuclear warfare. It faithfully translates on the screen the power and seething drama of the Eugene Burdick-Harvey Wheeler book.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Mary Poppins
    Julie Andrews’ first appearance on the screen is a signal triumph and she performs as easily as she sings, displaying a fresh type of beauty nicely adaptable to the color cameras. Van Dyke, as the happy-go-lucky jack-of-all-trades, scores heavily, the part permitting him to showcase his wide range of talents.
    • 96 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Hard Day's Night
    A wacky, offbeat piece of filming, charged with vitality, and inventiveness by director Dick Lester.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Harakiri
    This stunning film is a sombre tragedy [from Yasuhiko Takiguchi's novel] giving off deep rage against militarism, political systems and beliefs that do not allow for a rational human outlook or future change.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Marnie
    Marnie is the character study of a thief and a liar, but what makes her tick remains clouded even after a climax reckoned to be shocking but somewhat missing its point.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Killers
    Coon’s screenplay is burdened with affected dialog and contrived plotwork. Virtually nothing of the original Hemingway remains.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Masque of the Red Death
    Vincent Price is the very essence of evil, albeit charming when need be.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    A Shot in the Dark
    Sometimes the narrative is subordinated to individual bits of business and running gags but Sellers’ skill as a comedian again is demonstrated, and Sommer, in role of the chambermaid who moves all men to amorous thoughts and sometimes murder, is pert and expert.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Zulu
    Joseph E. Levine makes an impressive debut in British film production with Zulu, a picture that allows ample scope for his flamboyant approach to showmanship.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Patsy
    The Patsy's slim story line has it ups and downs, sometimes being hilarious, frequently unfunny.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Bedtime Story
    Bed time Story will divert the less discriminating, although there are times when even such major league performers as Marlon Brando and David Niven have to strain to sustain the overall meager romantic comedy material.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    From Russia with Love
    From Russia with Love is a preposterous, skillful slab of hardhitting, sexy hokum. After a slowish start, it is directed by Terence Young at zingy pace.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Chalk Garden
    On paper, this sounds like a ripe old piece of Victoriana, but curiously it works, largely because of confident, smooth performances by all concerned.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Viva Las Vegas
    The sizzling combination of Elvis Presley and Ann-Margaret is enough to carry Viva Las Vegas over the top.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    An Autumn Afternoon
    This view of contemporary middle class life in Japan is too leisurely paced, too sentimental in design and its humorous social comments too infrequent.
    • 54 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Evil of Frankenstein
    In this one Peter Cushing plays the baron with his usual seriousness, avoiding tongue-in-the-cheek, and he is the main prop in the proceedings.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Naked Kiss
    Good Samuel Fuller programmer about a prostie trying the straight route, The Naked Kiss is primarily a vehicle for Constance Towers. Hooker angles and sex perversion plot windup are handled with care, alternating with handicapped children 'good works' theme.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Pink Panther
    Quite apart from the general air of bubbling elegance, the pic is intensely funny. The yocks are almost entirely the responsibility of Peter Sellers, who is perfectly suited as a clumsy cop who can hardly move a foot without smashing a vase or open a door without hitting himself on the head.
    • 94 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Servant
    The Servant is for the most part strong dramatic fare, though the atmosphere and tension is not fully sustained to the end.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Seven Days in May
    The performances are excellent down the line, under the taut and penetrating directorial guidance of John Frankenheimer.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sunday in New York
    Norman Krasna's screenplay, from his Broadway legiter, doesn't really get rolling until it has virtually marked time for almost an hour, but once it gets up this head of steam the entire complexion of the picture seems to change.
    • 97 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
    George C. Scott as the fiery Pentagon general who seizes on the crisis as a means to argue for total annihilation of Russia offers a top performance, one of the best in the film. Odd as it may seem in this backdrop, he displays a fine comedy touch.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Children of the Damned
    What weakens this sequel is the fact that, unlike the original, it is burdened with a "message."
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    The Sword in the Stone
    It emerges as a tasty confection.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    America America
    Elia Kazan gives a penetrating, thorough and profoundly affecting account of the hardships endured and surmounted at the turn of the century by a young Greek lad in attempting to fulfill his cherished dream - getting to America from the old country.
    • 83 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Charade
    Firsttime teaming of Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, a natural, gives the sophisticated romantic caper an international appeal, plus the selling points of adventure, suspense and suberb comedy.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Incredible Journey
    Sheila Burnford’s book of the same title has been given a vivid translation in The Incred ible Journey, a live actioner exquisitely photographed in the Canadian outdoors.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    McLintock!
    Wayne is in his element, or home, home on the Waynge. O’Hara gives her customary high-spirited performance, although it’s never quite clear what she’s so darned sore about.
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