Variety's Scores

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For 17,825 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: 9,159 out of 17825
  2. Mixed: 7,029 out of 17825
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17825
17825 movie reviews
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  1. Emilia Pérez
    Audiard wonders how much people really change when they transition. In Emilia’s case, less than she’d like, but enough to inspire positive change in society.
  2. Sword of Trust
    The considerable pleasure of Lynn Shelton’s latest “Sword of Trust” is that everyone onscreen is so good at this kind of [improv] work that one wishes more tightly scripted comedy screenplays had such savory dialogue, or inspired character conceptions.
  3. Monkey Man
    The movie has three extended action sequences, and I would have been happier if it had eight of them — that is, if it had less pretensions and, like the “Wick” films, was more willing to wear its pulp on its sleeve.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    About Last Night...
    Film lacks much of Mamet's grittiness, but is likable in its own right.
  5. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
    This is a movie that provokes a consistent sense of “Whoa!” By the end, you’ll know with greater clarity than you did before why we’re in the mess we’re in.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Great Muppet Caper
    As before, much of the dialog neatly walks the line between true wit and silly (and sometimes inside) jokes.
  7. Electric Shadows
    A fairly conventional heartwarmer, lifted by likable performances, good-looking production values and (for movie buffs) a story centered on an outdoor cinema in rural China.
  8. Last Cab to Darwin
    It’s not so much the destination but the physical and emotional journey embarked on in this thoughtful, culturally authentic road trip.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Entertainer
    Tony Richardson, the director, makes several mistakes. But he has a sharp perception of camera angles, stimulates some good performances and, particularly, whips up an excellent atmosphere of a smallish British seaside resort.
  10. Blockade
    Told without voiceover, explanatory subtitles or any other contextualizing material, Russian docu Blockade looks unlikely to show up on the History Channel as it stands now. Nevertheless, this absorbing account of the 900-day siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) during WWII, told entirely through re-edited archive footage with freshly made sound, reps poignant viewing as it focuses on the daily lives of the city's inhabitants.
  11. Big Fan
    It's a small, peculiar film, one unlikely to appeal much to women, non-sports fans and mainstreamers, but its uncomfortable comic insights should win it a loyal following.
  12. Herself
    Many filmmakers mistakenly think that exploiting tragedy is the way to jerk tears from their audience, when in fact, gestures of spontaneous kindness shown by near-strangers can be most moving — something Lloyd understands, boosting the positive energy with anthems like “Chandelier” and “Bulletproof.”
  13. Ant-Man and the Wasp
    Ant-Man and the Wasp has a pleasingly breakneck, now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t surreal glee. It’s a cunningly swift and delightful comedy of scale.
  14. House of Sand
    Magnificently renders a fresh view of life on planet Earth.
  15. The Forsaken Land
    There's poetry in The Forsaken Land -- not the written kind (there's barely any dialogue) -- but visual poetry replete with still, painterly compositions and finely nuanced lighting.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Grease
    Grease has got it, from the outstanding animated titles of John Wilson all the way through the rousing finale as John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John ride off into teenage happiness.
  17. Mia Madre
    Moretti’s exploration of loss is unquestionably affecting, and My Mother has powerful moments, yet they’re not always well integrated with the broadly pitched moviemaking scenes, featuring a caricaturish John Turturro.
  18. Sun Children
    If one intention of Sun Children is to remind that all kids are created equal, deserving of education and encouragement, Majidi’s young ensemble makes the case loud and clear.
  19. John Lewis: Good Trouble
    A detailed yet paint-by-numbers study of the living legend who believes in the necessity of making good trouble as an instigator of societal change.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Barfly
    First American fictional feature from Swiss-French director Barbet Schroeder is spiked with unexpected doses of humor, much of it due to Mickey Rourke' quirky, unpredictable, most engaging performance as the boozy hero.
  21. Paddleton
    A movie about cancer has no right to be as consistently amusing as Paddleton — a triumph for which credit should be spread around, even if it most deservedly goes to Ray Romano.
  22. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
    It’s to the credit of the Russos that they give the characters such room to breathe in a movie that easily might have been about rushing from one gargantuan setpiece to the next.
  23. Hunter Gatherer
    Deliberately steering clear of the usual gangland drugs-and-violence cliches, Josh Locy’s writing-directing debut features a welcome starring role for Andre Royo (“The Wire”), whose performance as a wily hustler trying to stay one step ahead of possible ruin sets the tone for this odd, occasionally mystifying but undeniably singular and imaginative work.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Gremlins
    The humans are little more than dress-extras for the mechanics.
  25. Primary Colors
    A modern immorality tale with a keen, observant edge.
  26. Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
    Impresses with the originality of its observation, storytelling techniques and filmmaking style.
  27. Millennium Actress
    Contains some brilliant invention between duller stretches.
  28. The Emperor's New Groove
    Light, taut and compact, the zippy adventure is sometimes much too hip for the room.
  29. Prisoner of Paradise
    An important and smoothly mounted meditation on moral choices within the entertainment biz.
  30. 10 Things I Hate About You
    10 Things doesn't take much time before ditching its pitch idea in favor of a mishmash of newer formulas, never quite settling on a cogent game plan or directorial tone.
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