Variety's Scores

Select another publication »
For 17,828 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: 9,160 out of 17828
  2. Mixed: 7,031 out of 17828
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17828
17828 movie reviews
view
per page
  1. Ulee's Gold
    Nunez achieves a rare, and rarely earned, emotional depth that rewards the moderate demands he makes on contemporary viewers' short attention spans.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Ishtar
    Enter Charles Grodin, who upstages all involved via his savagely comical portrayal of a CIA agent.
  3. Felicia's Journey
    Mounted as an art film and is likely to divide both critics and the helmer's fans.
  4. Happy, Texas
    Steve Zahn shines throughout Mark Illsley's feature debut, Happy, Texas, elevating this eccentric small-town comedy a notch or two above its level of writing.
  5. Madame Satã
    While it's a little shapeless and dramatically overwrought, the film remains entertaining thanks to its fascinating subject, sharp visuals and fiercely proud central performance.
  6. City by the Sea
    De Niro's reunion with helmer Michael Caton-Jones doesn't stoke the same fire as their previous pere-fils drama, "This Boy's Life," partly because De Niro's latest portrayal of a troubled cop feels so familiar.
  7. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc
    The lack of a plausible leading lady is enough to sink what is otherwise an eye-catching, although heavily '90s-style, telling of one of history's most frequently filmed stories.
  8. The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
    A perfectly respectable kid-friendly family offering.
  9. An Amazing Couple
    The briefest of the three pics, it's also the least successful, suggesting that this kind of character-driven comedy isn't the genre with which Belvaux is most comfortable. Still, there are delightful sequences and ideas and the film carries a great deal more substance and resonance when placed alongside the other two in the series.
  10. The Heart of Me
    Solidly entertaining for those who like their dialogue crisp and with a main verb in every sentence.
  11. Km. 0 - Kilometer Zero
    Consistently amusing, candy-colored sex romp -- about romantic match-ups in Madrid that go both wrong and right.
  12. Apollo 13
    It's exceedingly linear structure, while unavoidable, renders it rather methodical and shallow in characterization.
  13. The Opposite of Sex
    Roos’ talent for vivid, jump-off-the-screen dialogue remains unquestioned, but his direction is considerably more spotty.
  14. The Secret Lives of Dentists
    Director Alan Rudolph achieves fresh as well as humorous insights into family life and strategies for keeping a damaged relationship from expiring. But a tiresome final act proves trying.
  15. Dark Blue
    Refreshingly devoid of flashiness or artificially pumped-up action, this consistently gripping, well-constructed police thriller… showcases a tightly controlled performance from Kurt Russell.
  16. Our Father
    Haroun's film is both touching and, ultimately, almost perversely optimistic.
  17. E-Dreams
    Plays out in quite a different offscreen context than did last year's similarly themed sleeper "Startup.com."
  18. Kippur
    A cumulatively devastating and visceral insight into the horrors of war.
  19. Journeys with George
    A golden opportunity to witness the "unplugged," after-hours George W. Bush at his most congenial. "George" offers a portrait of a gregariously charming and self-mocking fellow who's perfectly at ease in his own skin, and who's no less slick and savvy a politician for being willing to make himself the butt of jokes.
  20. The Experiment
    A solid slice of entertainment without reaching the psychological depths promised by the subject matter.
  21. Smoke Signals
    Breezy, often self-mocking tone proves fresh and invigorating.
    • 66 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Mystery Men
    Sharply written, with a lavish look and top-drawer effects adding to the appeal of its large and talented cast, pic achieves a nice balance of fondness and satiric snap, character laughs and goofy action.
  23. Smoke
    Too often goes off on a tangent with unessential anecdotes and then fails to deliver in more important areas.
  24. Ghost River
    Huppert's mastery aside, this is a European Art Film writ large, complete with classical music, gorgeously filmed landscapes, expository voiceovers, poetic transitions and only a ghost's footprint of a story.
  25. Too Tired to Die
    Has a jaunty, cosmopolitan air that proves appealing for considerable stretches, and Chin's love of cinema and mostly humorous approach to weighty themes will win points with buffs who have seen the same films the director has.
  26. Phone Booth
    Gussied up with a host of filmmaking tricks in an attempt to keep things lively, this intensely acted little exercise just doesn't have enough going for it, with the exception of gradually growing interest in lead Colin Farrell.
  27. An American Werewolf in Paris
    An enjoyably trashy blend of impressive special effects, low-key refs to Landis's movie, and sudden moments of horror breaking the jokey tone.
  28. My Life Without Me
    With a glowing performance by Sarah Polley as the doomed woman, this Spanish-Canadian co-prod, filmed in English, is surprisingly adept at avoiding the worst cliches and most manipulative elements inherent in such a story.
  29. Velvet Goldmine
    A constantly imaginative, stylistically lively but dramatically inert chronicle of cultural and sexual rebellion.
  30. The Apostle
    Beautifully detailed and deftly structured, every scene in The Apostle logically leads to the next one, each elaborating on the central theme of religious redemption.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »