Variety's Scores

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For 17,777 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: 9,133 out of 17777
  2. Mixed: 7,008 out of 17777
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17777
17777 movie reviews
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  1. Gods and Monsters
    Doesn’t always convince, particularly in the last lap. But it’s an engrossing, unusual, imaginatively executed bit of psychological gamesmanship nonetheless.
  2. Fear and Trembling
    Classy, funny cross-cultural adventure is Alain Corneau's most accomplished and entertaining film since 1991's "Tous les matins du monde."
  3. The Count of Monte Cristo
    A lavishly mounted and appealingly old-fashioned swashbuckler with nary a trace of wink-wink irony or revisionist embellishment.
  4. Good Will Hunting
    This beautifully realized tale is always engaging and often quite touching.
  5. A Home at the End of the World
    Driven by soulful performances and by a genuine sense of wonder for the unpredictable permutations of love and family.
  6. The Manson Family
    Its own mythology aside, this flamboyant, graphic and disturbing quasi-docu reenactment of a notorious chapter in U.S. counterculture life is a fascinating if peculiar accomplishment.
  7. Lightning in a Bottle
    Undeniably powerful on the bigscreen.
  8. Oasis
    An eloquent expression of both unorthodox romance and bitter disillusionment with the hypocritical institutions of family and society.
  9. Talk to Her
    An engaging, well-crafted and imaginative meditation on solitude and communication.
  10. All About My Mother
    An emotionally satisfying and brilliantly played take on the ups and (mostly) downs of a group of less-than-typical female friends.
  11. Dig!
    The terrific DIG! offers a unique chance to watch two classic rock band scenarios unfold simultaneously.
  12. Jump Tomorrow
    Hopkins delivers a genuinely charming example through the generosity and affection with which he treats his characters, a racially and culturally mixed bunch that could have seemed schematic and forced.
  13. Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst
    Superbly researched and constructed, pic is an improvement over last year's "The Weather Underground," which backed away from judging political terror on the left.
  14. The Barbarian Invasions
    A full-bodied, funny and gloriously unpretentious ode to family, friendship and the meaning of life, The Barbarian Invasions is solidly entertaining, sharply written and genuinely touching.
    • 69 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Batman
    Nicholson embellishes fascinatingly baroque designs with his twisted features, lavish verbal pirouettes and inspired excursions into the outer limits of psychosis. It's a masterpiece of sinister comic acting.
  16. American History X
    Jolting, superbly acted film.
  17. Princess Mononoke
    Exceedingly imaginative, beautifully realized animated epic adventure.
  18. Stage Beauty
    This skillfully acted, handsomely crafted frock piece toys cleverly with gender confusion and sexual identity.
  19. The Triplets of Belleville
    Almost completely dialogue-free but graced with terrific sound design and a swell score.
  20. Suzhou River
    A compelling story of love and obsession whose progress mirrors the sinuous flow of the Shanghai waterway that supplies its title.
  21. Amélie
    Fresh, funny, exquisitely bittersweet tour de force.
  22. The Deserted Station
    Compelling underlying oddness may be enough to distinguish Deserted Station from similarly excellent humanistic Iranian fare.
  23. Girlfight
    Blends in a most satisfying manner the conventions of several genres, resulting in a coherent picture that is at once a poignant inner-city drama, a rousing sports movie, an emotional family yarn and, above all, a sweet romance.
  24. Lethal Weapon 4
    The quintessence of the buddy cop pic, "LW4" is big on action, playful banter and just enough plot to keep our attention from wandering.
  25. Hamlet
    In one of the most accessible versions of Hamlet yet committed to film, Campbell Scott's self-helmed Great Dane is more than ever a man for our time.
  26. Minority Report
    May be a shade too serious and contemplative to completely enchant the thrill-seeking masses, while simultaneously seeming too mainstream-minded and genre-bound to be entirely embraced by highbrows.
  27. Unfaithful
    This refitting of Claude Chabrol's 1968 classic "La Femme Infidele" is less concerned with suspense and dramatic fireworks than is the usual American "erotic thriller," and much more devoted to nuances and the minutiae of how men and women behave, pretend and lie in duplicitous situations.
  28. Birth
    While it veers heavily toward pretentiousness, this striking metaphysical mystery is intensely compelling, conjuring a mood between European high-arthouse and the unsettling psychological horror of "Rosemary's Baby."
  29. Dinosaur
    An eye-popping visual spectacle that serves up a vivid picture of what the planet might have looked like when reptiles ruled the Earth.
  30. Freaky Friday
    Genuinely clever switched-identities romp.
  31. Scream 3
    A crafty and well-crafted wrap-up that really does bring a satisfying sense of closure to the franchise.
  32. Almost Famous
    More gentle and modestly insightful than it is exhilarating or revelatory.
  33. Control Room
    Compelling docu about the independent Arab news service, Al Jazeera.
  34. Garage Days
    Visually inventive and refreshingly witty, pic provides an insider's look at the contempo Sydney music scene and showcases a smart young cast.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Lion King
    A dazzling -- and unexpectedly daring -- addition to the Disney canon.
  36. OT: Our Town
    The evolving drama of the amateur, crisis-strewn production creates its own tensions, internal structure and time frame. Pic constantly surprises.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Never Been Kissed
    A likable romantic comedy with an engaging premise and strong cast.
  38. Sleepy Hollow
    An entertainingly eccentric horror tale that envelopes the audience in a dreamy and bloody nightmare.
  39. Bottle Rocket
    Full of surprising warmth and charm, unexpected plot turns and droll characters that bounce off each other in refreshing ways.
  40. The Royal Tenenbaums
    Underachieves in its own way by trapping an expansive, probing story in a brittle, highly artificial style that constricts character and emotional development.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Blue Velvet
    Hopper creates a flabbergasting portrait of unrepentent, irredeemable evil.
    • 93 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Do the Right Thing
    Combines a forceful statement on race relations with solid entertainment values.
  43. Ned Kelly
    An impressively staged, dark-toned revisiting of the life and times of Australia's boldest and most charismatic outlaw.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Flickering Lights
    Jensen helms with assurance and maturity, with rapid but unhectic pacing, plenty of dark humor and deft action sequences that turn cliches from U.S. action-comedies into something very Danish.
  45. True Crime
    Eastwood's latest picture boasts tight storytelling, sharp acting and an eye for unexpected, enlivening detail.
  46. Ocean's Eleven
    An all-star remake of the all-star original, Ocean's Eleven is a lark for everybody concerned, including the audience. Breezy, nonchalant and without a thing on its mind except having a little fun.
  47. Space Cowboys
    Good escapist entertainment, and the effect is ingratiating.
  48. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
    Over-plotted and at times incoherent but never dull, this is a stylishly designed, highly entertaining bloodbath full of offbeat comedy and inspired musical moments.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cape Fear
    A smart and stylish remake of the 1962 suspenser.
  50. Bringing Out the Dead
    Achieves a poetic, quasi-religious tone.
  51. Hukkle
    A true original…Beautifully shot, full of droll humor and at 77 minutes never overstaying its welcome.
  52. Notre musique
    Recognizably Godard with its playfulness and wordplays, but deeply human at the same time.
  53. Whale Rider
    Combines straightforward coming-of-age narrative with Maori mysticism to most engaging effect.
  54. The Terminal
    This buoyant, optimistic fable seems to share in the late Ronald Reagan's optimism for America. It does so with the help of a gifted comic ensemble led by Tom Hanks.
  55. The Passion of the Christ
    If an age produces the renditions of classic stories that reflect those times, then The Passion of the Christ, which is violent, contentious, emotional, extreme and highly proficient, must be the Jesus movie for this era.
  56. Cold Mountain
    A grim picaresque odyssey across a beautiful scarred landscape laced together by private romantic longing. Handsomely made and vividly acted.
  57. Finding Nemo
    Very clever and imaginative indeed, and its pictures are so gorgeous that they alone could warrant a second viewing.
  58. The Keys to the House
    Radiates a warm humanity and uplifts the spirit. Subtle rather than sentimental, it lacks easy tears though attentive viewers will find it lacerating enough.
  59. Hero
    A dazzlingly lensed, highly stylized meditation on heroism.
  60. Infernal Affairs
    Pic is superbly honed at both script and performance levels, with character taking precedence over action.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Akira
    A remarkable technical achievement in every respect, from the imaginative and detailed design of tomorrow to the booming Dolby effects on the soundtrack, pic’s only drawback is the slight stiffness in the drawing of human movement.
  62. Before Sunset
    A savvy sequel that should speak to anyone who's let that one great love slip away.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    A Clockwork Orange
    A brilliant nightmare... The film employs outrageous vulgarity, stark brutality and some sophisticated comedy to make an opaque argument for the preservation of respect for man's free will - even to do wrong.
  64. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
    Darker and more dramatic, this account of Harry's troubled second year at Hogwarts may be a bit overlong and unmodulated in pacing, but it possesses a confidence and intermittent flair that begin to give it a life of its own apart of the literary franchise, something the initial picture never achieved.
  65. Kinsey
    Lively, sometimes funny and, inevitably, provocative.
  66. Mousehunt
    Mouse Hunt is the cat's meow. Blending the graceful slapstick of Laurel and Hardy with the mock-Gothic visuals of "The Adams Family," this often screamingly funny comedy about a resilient rodent has enough across-the-board appeal to click with audiences of all ages.
  67. Ray
    Bursting at the seams with music, Taylor Hackford's ambitious film provides a good sense of the pioneering entertainer's extraordinary journey and brings it to life with plenty of colorful detail.
  68. Secret Things
    There's plenty for both the eyes and intellect to groove over in Secret Things, a taut, juicy, low-key feast of sexual and office politics filtered through helmer Jean-Claude Brisseau's customary blend of expedient formality and all-stops-out baroque behavior.
  69. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut
    Bigger, Longer & Uncut will make it harder still to dismiss, or kill, this cultural mini-phenom — not least because the feature is a more clever diversion than anyone had any right to expect.
  70. The Talented Mr. Ripley
    Performances are aces top to bottom
  71. Veer-Zaara
    Though it doesn't quite match recent classics like "Kabhi khushi kabhie gham" in sheer technique and production sheen, in-depth star casting and thorough entertainment values make this a must-see for Bollywatchers.
  72. Young Adam
    All of the promise that was evident in Scottish helmer David Mackenzie's flawed freshman feature, "The Last Great Wilderness" (2002), is richly achieved in his second pic, Young Adam, a resonant, beautifully modulated relationships drama.
  73. Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
    Generates enough inspired lunacy to sail past the arid stretches and provide a welcome splash of breezy, at times jaw-droppingly bizarre summer fun.
  74. Open Water
    A tour-de-force thriller that deftly transforms its low-budget limitations into spectacular assets.
  75. Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself
    Given its impressive balance of charm and bite, it looks like anything but suicide.
  76. Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
    Gleefully upends expectations and delivers an energetic comedy tracing two guys'all-night search for the perfect White Castle burger.
  77. Riding Giants
    Offers a highly engaging immersion into a culture of larger-than-life characters driven by their thrill-seeking instincts.
  78. Chicago
    First-time feature director Rob Marshall and Oscar-winning "Gods and Monsters" screenwriter Bill Condon have spun the dark tale of two murdering floozies into a widely palatable entertainment, but the long-gestating film comes up short in rhythm and personality.
  79. Collateral
    Occupying a dramatic, philosophical and sensory twilight zone that casts a considerable spell, this intensely focused piece soars not only on the director's precision-tooled style but also on the outstanding interplay between leads Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx.
  80. Finding Neverland
    An impeccably made and genuinely moving account of how Scottish author J.M. Barrie came to write "Peter Pan."
  81. Ginger Snaps
    A quietly subversive my-sister-is-turning-into-a-werewolf movie that doesn't wimp out at the end.
    • 100 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Godfather
    Overlong at about 175 minutes (played without intermission), and occasionally confusing. While never so placid as to be boring, it is never so gripping as be superior screen drama.
  83. The Motorcycle Diaries
    This intelligently made picture is artful but not arty, political without being didactic.
  84. Ratcatcher
    There’s a light touch in evidence, balancing the bleakness with odd lyrical moments and unexpected humor and tenderness that infuse the gentle drama with a bracing freshness.
  85. Love Actually
    A roundly entertaining romantic comedy, Love Actually is still nearly as cloying as it is funny…its cheeky wit, impossibly attractive cast and sure-handed professionalism are beguiling.
  86. The Woodsman
    A stunningly crafted work from first-time feature director Nicole Kassell.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Courage Under Fire
    Edward Zwick's high-minded new outing offers plenty of old-fashioned movie virtues such as believable action, plausible psychology, fully played-out confrontations and honest emotions.
  88. From Dusk Till Dawn
    A deliriously trashy, exuberantly vulgar, lavishly appointed exploitation picture, this weird combo of road-kill movie and martial-arts vampire gorefest is made to order for the stimulation of teenage boys.
  89. U Turn
    The stylistic fun Stone has in dramatizing this crime of passion thoroughly revitalizes the well-worked genre.
  90. The Mask
    This showcase for the talents of Jim Carrey is adroitly directed, viscerally and visually dynamic and just plain fun.
  91. Clear and Present Danger
    Narrative complexity and momentum make this a true cinematic equivalent of an absorbing page-turner.
  92. Love! Valour! Compassion!
    It is so sharply written and entertaining that in its stage-to-screen transfer the material easily overcomes its theatrical sensibility and the static direction of Joe Mantello, who also staged the Broadway production.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Soul Food
    Soul Food serves up family melodrama-cum-comedy that's tasty and satisfying, if not particularly profound or original.
  94. Crimson Tide
    While skillfully crafted to maximize visual excitement and dramatic fireworks through the first hour, relentlessly paced pic sports a fancy new package for a rather shopworn doomsday scenario that unravels to increasingly familiar effect as the finale breathlessly approaches.
  95. GoldenEye
    Most crucially, Brosnan makes the grade as 007. He handles the action capably and gets the standard quips out in a commendably straightforward way that's wry but not dismissive.
  96. 101 Dalmatians
    Where the film misses its biggest bet, however, is in depriving the animals of the voices they had in the animated version.
  97. The First Wives Club
    The familiar setup sparkles a little brighter here thanks to the ensemble and their deft delivery of the bitchy dialogue in Robert Harling's adaptation of the Olivia Goldsmith novel.
  98. Stealing Beauty
    A model of poise and restraint, the film flows in a way that is deliberately undramatic, but made no less involving by the dreamy gentleness of its approach.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Videodrome
    Film is dotted with video jargon and ideology which proves more fascinating than distancing. And Cronenberg amplifies the freaky situation with a series of stunning visual effects. (Review of Original Release)
  100. In the Line of Fire
    What neophyte scripterscripter Jeff Maguire's plot comes down to, however, is the cat-and-mouse game between Horrigan and Leary, and the craftiness and strategies involved on both sides, while not exactly ingenious, are tantalizing enough to compel interest.
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