Variety's Scores

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For 17,782 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: 9,136 out of 17782
  2. Mixed: 7,010 out of 17782
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17782
17782 movie reviews
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  1. I Like Killing Flies
    Charming character study.
  2. The Bridesmaid
    At 74, Chabrol is in full possession of his talent for elegant, understated filmmaking, though he's far from his disturbing films of the '50s and '60s.
  3. My Country, My Country
    Gotham-based documaker Laura Poitras ("Flag Wars") comes up with a still-timely, quietly hard-hitting look at the Iraqi situation with My Country, My Country, focusing on the lead-up to and outcome of the Jan. 30, 2005, Iraq election.
  4. Quinceañera
    This is a fresh, spirited drama, charming and unpretentious. It mines a similar vein to recent Latino-themed pics such as "Raising Victor Vargas" and "Real Women Have Curves."
  5. Boynton Beach Club
    Briskly paced humor and/or pathos flow organically from situation and characters.
  6. Shock to the System
    Enough action, a tiny pinch of sex and some campy moments from Morgan Fairchild.
  7. Step Up
    Fresh cast, a formulaic but engaging storyline, and a smoking soundtrack from rap and hip-hop luminaries.
  8. Accepted
    Sweetly amusing, gently anarchic and never mean-spirited.
  9. The Illusionist
    A bizarre story of intrigue, magic and murder in turn-of-the-century Vienna casts a considerable spell in The Illusionist.
  10. Idlewild
    Achieves magic--something sorely missing from so many movies these days--and does so via a philosophy of respect, but not reverence, for what's come before it; it never recycles, it just reimagines.
  11. Fratricide
    A hard-hitting, ultimately tragic tale of the struggle for identity among Kurdish emigres in urban Germany.
  12. Princesas
    This loosely-structured pic feels authentic, its underdramatized script resolutely nonjudgmental.
  13. Invincible
    Handling both directing and cinematography duties, Core invests both with a clearly impassioned sense of place, period and perspective regarding this fanfare for common men.
    • 73 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Riding Alone for Thousands of Miles
    A simple, low-budget, contempo dramedy -- with plenty of clever plot reversals.
  15. Saint of 9/11
    An unabashed tribute to Judge's life, struggles and Christian mission, does a good job of communicating what made Judge an inspiring figure to many, while making his life's work accessible and understandable.
  16. SherryBaby
    Gyllenhaal, in her most substantial role since "Secretary," does a fine, unshowy job of limning Sherry's faults without alienating the viewer or pleading for sympathy.
  17. Neo Ned
    Neo Ned may be ludicrous on paper, but it has what fans of independent film are looking for -- atmosphere, humanity and just a dash of fantastic drama.
  18. Gridiron Gang
    A crowd-pleasing, uplifting, feel-good and not-so-rare hybrid -- the sports/prison movie -- in which Los Angeles gangbangers are taught the virtues of trading violence on the streets for violence on the field.
  19. The Last Kiss
    All-American adaptation by Paul Haggis of Gabriele Muccino's 2001 Italian hit "L'Ultimo bacio" is chummy, consensual and always watchable in Tony Goldwyn's polished rendition of emotional messiness.
  20. Aurora Borealis
    Alternately breezy and profound, pic hits enough emotional chords to connect with audiences, which will be charmed by a newly mature Joshua Jackson, a deeply aged Donald Sutherland and a friskily romantic Juliette Lewis.
  21. The U.S. vs. John Lennon
    To track the transformation of John Lennon from adored Beatle to government-stalked peace advocate is David Leaf's stated intention for The U.S. vs. John Lennon, and the pic persuasively chronicles an artist sticking to his guns through activism.
  22. Beer League
    Sloppy but unconcerned about it, pic offers a trip back in time to a pre-PC and feminist era when men were sexist Neanderthals, women supported them from the sidelines and the guy with the biggest mouth scored.
  23. Fearless
    Manages to pack a satisfying emotional punch.
  24. The Science of Sleep
    With Mexican star Gael Garcia Bernal energetically playing a vulnerable graphic artist with a hyperactive imagination and little confidence with women, picture has an overriding quality of sweetness that will prove endearing to audiences, especially younger females.
  25. Renaissance
    A melancholy actioner that shines a new light on film noir. A sort of "The Third Man" for the 21st century, chiaroscuro curio's level of graphic invention is exceeded only by its pleasingly mournful approach.
  26. The Last King of Scotland
    In the end, The Last King of Scotland is much better when it plays it cool and amusing than when it tries to ramp up outrage and indignation.
  27. The Guardian
    The overlong but involving drama has obvious cross-generational appeal.
  28. Open Season
    A witty, warmly crafted chestnut.
  29. loudQUIETloud: A Film About the Pixies
    Picture is targeted at the already initiated, but directors Steve Cantor and Matthew Galkin deftly resolve one often glaring problem with tribute documentaries -- making those who might not care do so.
  30. Little Children
    Like "In the Bedroom," Little Children, at well over two hours, is somewhat long for an intense, intimate drama, and arguments could run many ways concerning what could be tightened or excised.
  31. Employee of the Month
    Falling short of being truly memorable but sharper than the general slagheap of comedies.
  32. Blood Tea and Red String
    Often grotesque, though never in the "Sick and Twisted" juvenile gross-out mode, dreamlike feature is as lovingly crafted as it is unsettlingly sour-sweet, with Mark Growden's avant-garde folk score in perfect synch.
  33. Driving Lessons
    Basically conservative yet titillatingly "eccentric" British laffer could succeed in the "Full Monty" import slot.
  34. Infamous
    Writer-director Douglas McGrath's boldest stroke is to impose a more overtly gay interpretation on a central relationship in which the attraction was generally supposed to be unspoken.
  35. One Night with the King
    Blessed with abundant production values and a minimum of campy excess, One Night With the King is a surprisingly satisfying attempt to revive the Old Hollywood tradition of lavishly appointed Biblical epics aimed at mainstream auds.
  36. Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple
    PBS-bound docu constitutes a revealing look at a poorly understood chapter in American history.
  37. Cocaine Cowboys
    A rogues gallery of flamboyant gangsters paint an anecdote-rich portrait of the drug trade, while a steady stream of cops, coroners and crime reporters furnish social commentary.
  38. 20 Centimeters
    Showing a stylistic bravura and confidence rare among upcoming Spanish helmers, Ramon Salazar's campy 20 Centimeters is a self-regarding but vastly entertaining sophomore effort that fuses a wide range of influences -- Hollywood musicals, neo-realism and early-Almodovarian kitsch -- into a distinctive, giddy whole.
  39. Absolute Wilson
    A surprisingly conventional portrait of a decidedly unconventional man.
  40. The Bridge
    Compelling result is handled with enough dignified artistry to quell most fears of exploitation.
  41. Flushed Away
    Result is a kidpic long on invention but short on likability.
  42. Stranger Than Fiction
    Sometimes becomes too self-consciously clever, and it doesn't entirely resolve its own central dilemma. But it remains inventive and funny to the end, features fine performances from Will Ferrell and especially Emma Thompson.
  43. Captive
    Gripping drama.
  44. Fuck
    The offensive word that provides the title for Steven Anderson's penetrating documentary/social critique has either enriched or infected Western culture to the point that we're either drowning in a "floodtide of filth" or blessed with the best verbal relief valve ever devised by man.
  45. Fast Food Nation
    Richard Linklater's rough-hewn tapestry of assorted lives that feed off of and into the American meat industry is both rangy and mangy; it remains appealing for its subversive motives and revelations even as one wishes its knife would have been sharper.
  46. The PianoTuner of EarthQuakes
    Impresses as a visually exquisite, rigorously intellectual but dauntingly obscurantist fable about automatons, opera singers and herniated desire that will appeal exclusively to arthouse auds with rarefied tastes.
  47. Bobby
    Emilio Estevez's Bobby is a passionate outcry for peace and justice in America that becomes deeply involving by the final climactic scene.
  48. The Holiday
    A lavishly overstuffed gift basket of a movie.
  49. The Bergman Trilogy
    Ingmar Bergman lays his soul on the line in Marie Nyreroed's gentle, intimate and thorough documentay.
  50. Days of Glory
    Committed performances and strong widescreen lensing carry the message with a righteous, if heavy weight.
  51. Off the Black
    Anchored by a terrific performance from Nick Nolte as a grizzled umpire who gets an unexpected second chance at fatherhood, this easygoing comedy-drama plays out slowly but assuredly, infusing a conventional story about a blossoming relationship with welcome reserves of honesty and humor.
  52. Venus
    Genuinely funny, randy and moving by turns, breezily enjoyable throughout.
  53. The Secret Life of Words
    Sarah Polley gives a wonderfully searching performance, as a woman in a state of extreme isolation, in The Secret Life of Words, a compellingly claustrophobic drama set mostly aboard an oil rig.
  54. The Dead Girl
    More ambitious than her 2002 debut, "Blue Car," Moncrieff's new film maintains her focus on women, expanding to include a range of ages, circumstances and psychologies. Picture's drama, however, is deliberately fractured into a quintet of stories that vary considerably in their overall impact.
  55. Freedom Writers
    It takes the bold approach of being earnest, honest and unafraid to be called naive. As a result, it's extremely affecting.
  56. Ever Since the World Ended
    Continually tickles the mind while leaving a heavy lump in the chest, establishing and sustaining a unique low-key tone of mystery and dread.
  57. God Grew Tired of Us
    Although shot over a longer period of time than "Lost Boys," God Grew Tired is a softer, less complex version of essentially the same story, far less troubling in its explorations and implications than "The Lost Boys," but with far greater commercial potential.
  58. Aristide and the Endless Revolution
    A vital if less than objective slice of film journalism on the U.S.'s troubled history in the Third World.
  59. The Cult of the Suicide Bomber
    Thoughtful, incisive, controversial.
  60. Cease Fire
    Audiences hooked on Persian mainstream will devour this irreverent romantic comedy, spiced with saucy dialogue that spoofs traditional gender roles through gritted teeth.
  61. The GoodTimesKid
    Building his dry comedy out of a basic confusion of names, an Army recruitment slip and one man's curiosity, Jacobs creates a droll, meandering and defiantly uncommercial film.
  62. G.I. Jesus
    A bold, often clumsy, but always intriguing piece of work.
  63. An Unreasonable Man
    A basically admiring if critical portrait, documentary by Henriette Mantel and Stephen Skrovan (strangely, both standup comics and TV comedy writer-producers) finds more than enough absorbing material to hold interest through nearly three-hour runtime.
  64. Samoan Wedding
    The big, burly Samoan Wedding is a shrewdly written, impeccably timed and audaciously played romantic comedy.
  65. Music and Lyrics
    Grant carries the day as the fortysomething lad still living off his youth and just about getting away with it.
  66. Breach
    Just as somber as "The Good Shepherd," the most recent domestic spy drama, but more tightly focused, Breach absorbingly zeroes in on how the FBI nailed the most damaging turncoat in American history.
  67. Bridge to Terabithia
    Some literal-minded attempts at magical realism are redeemed by the film's emotional texture, winning chemistry between the tyke leads and scrupulous adherence to a childlike point of view.
  68. Avenue Montaigne
    A well-oiled script is nicely served by a multigenerational cast, a bittersweet and consistently entertaining mainstream comedy that tackles the big themes of Life and Art with unpretentious brio.
  69. Close to Home
    Mixes humor, tragedy, tenderness and political acumen into a well-observed coming-of-age format.
  70. C.R.A.Z.Y.
    The whole family can feel comfortable watching C.R.A.Z.Y., Jean-Marc Vallee's bouncy coming-of-age tale that coasts along on a terrific soundtrack and a spot-on feel for period detail. Story of a tight-knit Catholic family and their sexually confused son never goes near anything that might make mainstream auds uncomfortable, sticking with an old-fashioned tone balanced by inventive lensing that gives only the illusion of dipping its toe in risky waters.
  71. The Astronaut Farmer
    Thornton carries the film with relaxed authority, though the earnest tone doesn't let him explore the nuttier aspects of a character who, from any reasoned distance ought look more screwy than heroic. Madsen is radiant.
  72. The Abandoned
    Minimally plotted but beautifully atmospheric nightmare.
  73. Amazing Grace
    Picture reflects the no-nonsense storytelling skills of prolific helmer Michael Apted, whose career-long mix of feature and documentary work holds him in good stead once more.
  74. Into Great Silence
    With a painterly eye and a deep appreciation for the hermetic world set apart from, rather than at odds with, modern life, helmer Philip Groening takes the viewer into their cloistered world.
  75. The Exterminating Angels
    Brisseau trains his deft camera on the crescendo of female sexual pleasure and how women can heighten the intensity of already blissful sensations via transgressive flourishes. If exiting viewers could all be asked "Was it good for you?" the likely answer is "Yes."
  76. The Ultimate Gift
    Although cynics likely will reject The Ultimate Gift as warmed-over Capra-corn, this predictable but pleasant drama based on Jim Stovall's popular novel may be prized by those with a taste for inspirational uplift and heart-tugging sentiment.
  77. Air Guitar Nation
    With equal measures of showmanship, patriotism and irony, hundreds vie at NYC's Pussycat Lounge for the East Coast Division of the first-ever nationwide air guitar championship for the right to eventually represent the U.S. at the world championship.
  78. The Page Turner
    Scripter-helmer Denis Dercourt's sixth feature is spare but classy, with an impressively controlled perf by Deborah Francois (the young mother in the Dardenne Bros.' "L'enfant") opposite popular and spot-on vet Catherine Frot.
  79. The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair
    The Prisoner is in many ways a justifiably angry film, simmering with moral outrage. But it is also -- surprisingly, maybe even amazingly -- hopeful.
  80. Ping Pong
    Very striking stylistic control is exerted in this absorbing if overlong tale of angst-ridden high school competitors.
  81. Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis
    An insightful and incisive portrait of a self-destructive paranoid artist whose importance is partly hidden by his own divisive nature.
  82. Rock the Bells
    At several points, Chang is the only thing standing between his event and total chaos, as frustrated ticket-holders rush the gates.
  83. Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters
    Offers a diverting package of surreal, rude stoner and pop culture-based humor that will delight youthful viewers while bewildering stray elders.
  84. Disturbia
    Squirmingly fun suspenser that brings Alfred Hitchcock's "Rear Window" into the era of vidcams and cell phones, serving up hearty, youth-skewing portions of PG-13 violence and bikini-bait along the way.
  85. Dreaming Lhasa
    A sensitive if literal-minded tale that demonstrates how Tibet's national identity is of a piece with its spiritual heart.
  86. Everything's Gone Green
    Starring an excellent Paulo Costanzo (late of "Joey") as a twentysomething uberslacker who is nonetheless willing to fall into accidental success, pic is seasoned with fine perfs by JR Bourne as a charismatic, creepy hustler and Steph Song as Constanzo's sexy potential love interest.
  87. Year of the Dog
    A satisfying and funny, if ironic, comedy intended for lovers of both the beast and/or sophisticated laughs.
  88. Fracture
    An absorbing legal thriller that can't help but taste like exquisitely reheated leftovers.
  89. Alice Neel
    Much like Neel's portraits, the film is marked by audacious understatement, neither whitewashing nor sensationalizing the artist's sterling achievements and messy personal life.
  90. The Valet
    Layers of intrigue mesh with Hollywood-style efficiency, pitting sincere feelings against ruthlessly mercenary machinations. Also in Hollywood style, sincerity and integrity carry the day.
  91. Waitress
    While aspects verge on sitcom terrain, this tale of a pregnant small-town woman caught between a bad marriage and a risky affair is mostly as funny and charming as intended.
  92. Jindabyne
    Never obtains the full impact of its potentially powerful inner core.
  93. Election
    Some general viewers may feel let down by the relatively scant action.
  94. Casting About
    Film's warm disposition and deliberate lack of razzmatazz will hook discerning, mature viewers.
  95. The Hip Hop Project
    A beat-driven, inspirational organism that develops and blossoms along with its subjects, "Word.Life" tells the story of a once-homeless Brooklynite who prods, pushes and propels his aspiring young rappers to think first and rhyme later.
  96. Flanders
    A somber, beautifully acted reflection on the barbarity of war and the bestiality of man.
  97. 9 Star Hotel
    In dangerous and downright cruddy conditions, the personable Palestinians share stories, lodgings and camaraderie with the young Israeli filmmaker, whose handheld camera follows them everywhere.
  98. Paprika
    With its brainy scientist heroine, and surreal, super-kitsch imagery, above-average Japanese anime sci-fi pic Paprika has a better chance than most Nipponese toons of breaking out of the specialty ghetto by appealing to femme auds as well as the genre's core constituency of fanboys.
  99. Radiant City
    In the end, helmers have some nifty tricks up their verite sleeves.
  100. Crazy Love
    While the competent filmmaking package lacks much of its own personality, the sheer fascinating strangeness of the people documented could earn the picture a minor cult following a la "Grey Gardens."
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