Variety's Scores

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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
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    • 56 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Pretty in Pink
    A rather intelligent (if not terribly original) look at adolescent insecurities.
  2. 25th Hour
    Lapses into melodramatic self-importance and gratuitous stylistic flourishes that take the audience out of the action -- are outweighed by the steadily amplified emotional power of this ultimately moving drama.
  3. Chasing Amy
    Much of the dialogue is good, and Smith does a decent job of presenting the emotional fallout from every major participant's p.o.v.
  4. Mallrats
    While admittedly ragged and ribald, it's a picture with an innate charm and honesty that should win over audiences.
  5. Walking Tall
    Moves along at a clip and provides a terrific action lead for Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson.
  6. The Recruit
    The whole picture may be hokey, but the first part is agreeably so, the second part not. At the very least, one comes away with a new appreciation of the difficulty of inner-office romance at the CIA.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Wag the Dog
    Glib cynicism isn't a tremendously appealing quality, but in Wag the Dog it at least has the benefit of comic precision and polished handling.
  8. The Brown Bunny
    An astonishing improvement on the original version. With 27 minutes excised, pic emerges from its mind-numbing undergrowth as a memorable -- if still highly specialized -- exercise in personal, '70s-style American filmmaking, with a cohesive feel and rhythm that marks Gallo as a distinctive indie talent.
  9. Sexy Beast
    Often enjoyable, massively uneven Brit ganglander with an almost surreal approach to the genre.
  10. Beverly Hills Ninja
    This sweet saga of an underachiever who makes good is surprisingly appealing and sure to broaden the portly comic's fan base.
    • 74 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Violet Perfume: No One Is Listening
    Has a poignant emotional core in the truthful description of its characters' despairing lives.
  12. We Were Soldiers
    Gibson has the closest thing to a John Wayne part that anyone's played since the Duke himself rode into the sunset, and he plays it damn well.
  13. Mulan
    A rich dramatic tapestry lightly stained by some strained comedy, rigorous political correctness and perhaps more adherence to Disney formula than should have been the case in one of the studio's most adventurous and serious animated features.
  14. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
    Arresting at first but gradually trails off under the weight of its hyper-derivativeness and anxiety to please.
  15. I'm Not Scared
    While another director might have imbued the story of a Sicilian boy awakened to his parents' involvement in child abduction with more emotional weight and thematic depth, Salvatores' classically illustrative treatment should open arthouse doors for the visually sumptuous production.
  16. Fade to Black
    Smartly directed by Pat Paulson and Michael John Warren and nicely lensed.
  17. A Silent Love
    Largely plays down the ethnic stereotyping to deliver a carefully observed, fundamentally human roundelay about the wonders and horrors of looking for someone to love.
  18. White Oleander
    Never rising above routine episodic storytelling, White Oleander nonetheless retains something of its source novel's ravaged emotional surface and cool, observant manner.
  19. Magnolia
    A remarkably inventive and audacious film that almost overcomes its flaws.
  20. Cast Away
    Meticulous, sumptuous production design, and striking visuals compensate for the lack of dramatic momentum in a film that arguably stretches narrative form to its limits.
  21. Contact
    Beautifully crafted and legitimately involving once it locks onto a dramatic track, film benefits from remaining mysterious about how far it intends to go in pursuing its themes, but also suffers from long-windedness and preachy final-reel explicitness as to its message.
  22. What Lies Beneath
    A thriller that tries aggressively, but not entirely successfully, to deliver the goods of three genres -- suspense, supernatural and horror.
  23. A Bug's Life
    Entertaining in a very showbizzy way.
  24. Monsters, Inc.
    Clever and jokey in a vaudeville sort of way, but lacks the heart and sheer imagination of the company's best work for Disney, "Toy Story 2" and "A Bug's Life."
  25. Howard Zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
    As engaging and stimulating as the man himself.
  26. Voices of Iraq
    With Iraqis pointing cameras at each other, the result is cheerier than might be expected.
  27. Three Kings
    An impudently comic, stylistically aggressive and, finally, very thoughtful manner.
  28. Big Daddy
    While the loyal male-teen aud core will not be disappointed with the spate of gags just for them, story contains solid date-movie material.
  29. George of the Jungle
    Not quite inspired lunacy, the film has a game, likable quality.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Rain Man
    It's a mature assignment for Cruise and he's at his best in the darker scenes.
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