Variety's Scores

Select another publication »
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
view
per page
  1. 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."
  2. Boynton Beach Club
    Briskly paced humor and/or pathos flow organically from situation and characters.
  3. Shock to the System
    Enough action, a tiny pinch of sex and some campy moments from Morgan Fairchild.
  4. Step Up
    Fresh cast, a formulaic but engaging storyline, and a smoking soundtrack from rap and hip-hop luminaries.
  5. Accepted
    Sweetly amusing, gently anarchic and never mean-spirited.
  6. The Illusionist
    A bizarre story of intrigue, magic and murder in turn-of-the-century Vienna casts a considerable spell in The Illusionist.
  7. 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.
  8. Fratricide
    A hard-hitting, ultimately tragic tale of the struggle for identity among Kurdish emigres in urban Germany.
  9. Princesas
    This loosely-structured pic feels authentic, its underdramatized script resolutely nonjudgmental.
  10. 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.
  12. 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.
  13. 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.
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 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.
  17. 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.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. Fearless
    Manages to pack a satisfying emotional punch.
  21. 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.
  22. 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.
  23. 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.
  24. The Guardian
    The overlong but involving drama has obvious cross-generational appeal.
  25. Open Season
    A witty, warmly crafted chestnut.
  26. 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.
  27. 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.
  28. Employee of the Month
    Falling short of being truly memorable but sharper than the general slagheap of comedies.
  29. 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.
  30. Driving Lessons
    Basically conservative yet titillatingly "eccentric" British laffer could succeed in the "Full Monty" import slot.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »