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. Twist
    Shot on location in subdued colors, Twist offers much less hope for its troubled characters than Dickens did. Its very downbeat vision may turn off auds, which is a pity because the film has a great many qualities, not least the admirable performances of Stahl, Close and Pelletier.
    • 75 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    El Norte
    Comes across as a kind of giant Renaissance canvas.
  3. The Matrix
    An eye-popping but incoherent extravaganza of morphing and superhuman martial arts.
  4. Waking Life
    Audiences looking for something fresh and different, not to mention a head trip, will find it in Waking Life.
  5. Alfie
    A breezy, sexy romp with a conscience that reflects in obvious but interesting ways on societal changes over the intervening 38 years.
  6. Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius
    Moppet appeal of the present feature rests in three can't-miss concepts -- cool gadgets, the desire to see grownups disappear and space travel. Pic delivers on all three points and doesn't have to do a whole lot more.
  7. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    An outstanding lean film trapped in a fat film's body.
  8. Absolute Power
    Eastwood is in good, sly form, once again delighting in a character's splendid solitude and singular skill at what he does.
  9. Blood Work
    The 72-year-old star, who is centerscreen throughout, makes this rather far-fetched yarn go down much more easily than it otherwise might have.
  10. Kundun
    Ultimately Kundun emerges as a movie that's hypnotic without being truly compelling, sensuously stunning but not illuminating.
  11. The Price of Milk
    Full of surreal occurrences and bizarre, sometimes overly precious humor that may make it too rarefied an exercise for wide acceptance.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Raging Bull
    But the boxing sequences are possibly the best ever filmed, and the film captures the intensity of a boxer's life with considerable force.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Goodfellas
    Simultaneously fascinating and repellent, Goodfellas is Martin Scorsese's colorful but dramatically unsatisfying inside look at Mafia life in 1955-1980 New York City.
  14. The Age of Innocence
    Scorsese has met most of the challenges inherent in tackling such a formidable period piece, but the material remains cloaked by the very propriety, stiff manners and emotional starchiness the picture delineates in such copious detail.
  15. The Big Lebowski
    Spiked with wonderfully funny sequences and some brilliantly original notions, The Big Lebowski, a pseudo-mystery thriller with a keen eye and ear for societal mores and modern figures of speech, nonetheless adds up to considerably less than the sum of its often scintillating parts.
  16. The Machinist
    An intense, precision-controlled psychological mystery built around a very creepy lead performance by Christian Bale.
  17. We Don't Live Here Anymore
    Tony literary material, a fine cast and intelligent script and direction.
  18. This So-Called Disaster: Sam Shepard Directs the Late Henry Moss
    Not as insightful as "Topsy-Turvy" or "Vanya on 42nd Street" about the process of putting on a show, it's nonetheless a fascinating meeting of the minds -- between iconic New York indie filmmaker Michael Almereyda and laconic American cowboy and dramatist Shepard.
  19. Kitchen Stories
    The film appears consistently poised to go deeper but instead hangs back, making it less substantial than it might have been. Yet the sweet-natured story's gentle humor and poignancy should draw appreciative audiences.
  20. Once Upon a Time in Mexico
    Evokes the mythic feel of Sergio Leone Westerns. Despite a convoluted plot that begs for cleaner lines, the wild shoot-outs, cartoonish violence and charismatic cast should lure action fans to theaters.
  21. Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
    Gleefully commingles slapstick and scatology, satire and sentiment, in a free-wheeling farce aimed at making auds laugh until they're thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
  22. Dolls
    Despite an excessively meandering final act, the drama's three intertwined stories have a cumulative impact, their affecting sadness matched by meticulously composed visual poetry.
  23. Saints and Soldiers
    Well mounted, frequently gripping.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    They Live
    A fantastically subversive film, a nifty little confection pitting us vs them, the haves vs the have-nots.
  25. À cause d'un garçon
    Non-formulaic character interactions, a uniformly strong cast and deft handling by vet TV helmer Fabrice Cazaneuve render a refreshing take on youthful coming-out.
  26. 28 Days Later...
    Shows a rather arrogant disdain for its audience in between occasional flashes of flair.
  27. Christmas with the Kranks
    Ultimately something of a softball satire, its climactic evocation of the "true meaning" of the holidays is surprisingly touching.
  28. Jackie Brown
    Unquestionably too long, and lacking the snap and audaciousness of the pictures that made him the talk of the town, this narratively faithful but conceptually imaginative adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel "Rum Punch" nonetheless offers an abundance of pleasures, especially in the realm of characterization and atmosphere.
    • 21 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    9 Dead Gay Guys
    9 Dead Gay Guys, a dark comedy in the John Waters tradition, takes place in such a cartoonish, good-natured universe it's hard to imagine anyone taking offense.
  30. A Love Song for Bobby Long
    A pedigree cast elevates old-fashioned material and lackluster screenwriting.
Page:

Top Trailers

See all »
See all trailers »