Variety's Scores

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For 17,839 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: 9,166 out of 17839
  2. Mixed: 7,035 out of 17839
  3. Negative: 1,638 out of 17839
17839 movie reviews
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    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Pope of Greenwich Village
    The Pope of Greenwich Village, set in Manhattan’s Italian community, is a near-miss in its transition from novel [by Vincent Patrick] to film, setting forth an offbeat slice-of-life tale of small-time guys involved in big trouble.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Death Race 2000
    Script, from an Ib Melchior story, makes its satirical points economically, and director Paul Bartel keeps the film moving quickly.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Way of the Dragon
    Dragon is noteworthy more for the martial arts action than for narrative, which is all its fans probably want anyway.
  4. The Obituary of Tunde Johnson
    The cumulative assassinations begin to ache like a mysterious bruise, making the audience feel the psychic weight of living in fear. Yet, the style of the film is more teen soap opera than vérité miserablism.
  5. 7500
    For its first half, 7500 is briskly effective in a cold-sweat sort of way, carrying its audience from a smooth takeoff to the first signs of disturbance to swiftly cranked all-out terror with the kind of nervy efficiency you can admire without exactly taking pleasure in it. In more ways than one, however, Vollrath’s technically adroit film has trouble sticking the landing.
  6. Benny & Joon
    Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson render such startling performances in the romantic fable Benny & Joon that they almost overcome the trappings of an emotional tale that is not particularly well written or directed.
  7. The Lords of Salem
    The helmer’s narrative dead end here registers not as a lack of nerve so much as a lack of imagination.
  8. 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.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Wayne's World
    Director Penelope Spheeris, with her first major studio assignment (and eight-figure budget), delivers a colorful but uneventful picture.
  10. All Good Things
    The more the film implicates David, the more it distances itself and the viewer, playing out in the emotionally detached but sensationalistic, overripe manner of a tabloid freakshow.
  11. Crank
    Videogamers who've been itching for "Grand Theft Auto: The Movie" can tide themselves over in the meantime with Crank, a down-and-dirty actioner that follows a rugged antihero trying to outrun death by keeping his adrenaline flowing.
  12. Summer of 84
    Summer of ’84 is only cute and competent enough to be diverting; it’s neither funny nor scary enough to leave a lasting impression.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean
    The overkill and the underdone do it in.
  14. Keeping Up with the Steins
    A sure-fire audience-pleaser, Scott (son of Garry) Marshall's winning comedy bow could have been titled "My Big Fat Jewish Bar Mitzvah."
  15. Brahmastra Part One: Shiva
    Leads Kapoor and Bhatt have an excess of charm and style that leaps off the screen and grabs your heart.
  16. Heads of State
    “Nobody” director Ilya Naishuller takes gags that have no business working . . . and milks them for laughs, adding original solutions to otherwise familiar action scenes.
  17. It's a Disaster
    Audiences may not care about this gang when the party starts, but once the dust settles, you’ve gotta admit, they made for pretty good company.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    The Patsy
    The Patsy's slim story line has it ups and downs, sometimes being hilarious, frequently unfunny.
  19. Chelsea on the Rocks
    A skittery, rambling but often absorbing portrait.
  20. Flawless
    As neatly tailored, clean-cut, and visually appealing as a Savile Row suit. But audiences accustomed to more knowing fare are likely to find its twists and turns outdated while yearning for a little of the rebellious fun that made the genre gleam in the first place.
  21. Daybreakers
    The script doesn't wring many surprises or much character involvement from the premise, and the brothers' helming, while slick, is short on scares, action setpieces and humor.
  22. The Gorge
    It’s an audacious feat to combine multiple genres into one compelling feature, but The Gorge does just that.
  23. Lila Says
    Easy on the eye but light on originality.
  24. Rabbit Trap
    The film’s barely-hidden secrets float just beneath the surface of a pool with no ripples — without meaningful texture to complicate or disguise its themes, or turn their unveiling into an emotionally-driven experience.
  25. The Cured
    Just when you thought nothing new could be done with the undead, “The Cured” pulls off a fresh take on zombie terrain.
  26. Severe Clear
    Scotti's amateur camerawork proves strangely compelling.
  27. R100
    If a dominatrix is one who takes total control of her passive partner, then R100 is the cinematic equivalent of a kinky femme fatale in black leather and stiletto heels, cracking a whip and a smile.
  28. Pet Sematary
    The script ... is practically all plot, all the time, which is plenty efficient for those simply looking to be scared but a little anemic when it comes to making audiences care about these people
  29. The Most Precious of Cargoes
    Director Michel Hazanavicius finds a poignant way to address not only the horrors of the Holocaust, but the kindness that combated it, crafting an indelible parable destined to be watched and shared by generations to come.
  30. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    Spielberg is such a talented director it’s a shame to see him lose all sense of subtlety and nuance.
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