Variety's Scores

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For 17,807 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 2.4 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: 9,148 out of 17807
  2. Mixed: 7,022 out of 17807
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17807
17807 movie reviews
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  1. The Way We Get By
    Although the trio's work as "troop greeters" is the film's ostensible subject, their renewed and somewhat tenuous sense of purpose gives the doc its bite.
  2. A Perfect Getaway
    A big-reveal thriller with surprises that really do surprise -- and are worth waiting for through an audaciously long buildup -- A Perfect Getaway finds writer-director David Twohy in popcorn form with a muscularity not seen since 2000's "Pitch Black."
  3. Julie & Julia
    This middling melange of Child biopic and contempo dramedy feels overstuffed and predigested as it depicts two ladies who found fame and fulfillment in their respective eras by cooking and writing about it.
  4. Cold Souls
    An amusing slice of existential whimsy with an Eastern European bent, Cold Souls posits a world in which humans can have their souls extracted and implanted in each others’ bodies.
  5. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
    While thesping is not the main game here, having a cast of bright young things certainly helps, and Quaid gets in a few nice John Wayne-like moments as the no-nonsense boss.
  6. Beeswax
    Beeswax, the third feature from American indie auteur Andrew Bujalski ("Funny Ha Ha," "Mutual Appreciation"), offers yet another low-key take on twentysomethings finding their way.
  7. I Sell the Dead
    Antic horror comedy I Sell the Dead nods to the '60s Hammer heyday of fog-swirling Victorian chillers, as well as that period's penchant for teaming genre favorites (Boris Karloff, Basil Rathbone, Peter Lorre, etc.) in genial sendups.
  8. Paper Heart
    There may be a fairly sharp line dividing those who find the whole delightfully odd, and those irked by what could be read as a faux childlike simplicity to the enterprise.
  9. Second Skin
    The human dramas of individual gamers are what really make this technically polished documentary so fascinating and potentially commercial.
  10. Funny People
    Amusing and engaging yet lacking in snap and cohesion, this insider's look at the world of standup comics in contempo Los Angeles rings true in its view of the variously warped, stunted and narrow lives of its mostly male denizens.
  11. The Cove
    Eco-activist documentaries don't get much more compelling than The Cove, an impassioned piece of advocacy filmmaking that follows "Flipper" trainer-turned-marine crusader Richard O'Barry in his efforts to end dolphin slaughter in Taiji, Japan.
  12. Thirst
    An overlong stygian comedy that badly needs a transfusion of genuine inspiration.
  13. Aliens in the Attic
    Performances are unremarkable but acceptable pretty much across the board, and the vocal talents -- particularly Thomas Haden Church as the belligerent Tazer and Josh Peck as the lovable Sparks -- are well cast.
  14. The Collector
    With both feet planted firmly on the sticky accelerator of the torture-porn vehicle, The Collector is a surprisingly stylish and confident high-concept thriller.
  15. Lorna's Silence
    The film doesn't pack the same cumulative wallop as the brothers' earlier work, but its low-key artistry, immaculate construction and fine performance by relative newcomer Arta Dobroshi should rouse the usual fest acclaim and arthouse interest.
  16. Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
    Aussie genre pics of the 1970s and '80s get a rip-roaring salute in Not Quite Hollywood, complete with endorsement by Quentin Tarantino as chief onscreen fanboy.
  17. Flame and Citron
    An absorbing, shades-of-gray look at home-front intrigue in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II. Ole Christian Madsen’s accomplished fourth feature plays out on a much larger canvas than he’s used previously and offers nuance and ambiguity in equal measure with violence and tragedy.
  18. Gotta Dance
    Heartwarming and full of self-deprecating humor, albeit somewhat over-long and repetitive.
  19. Adam
    Emotionally potent performances, gently offbeat humor and writer-helmer Max Mayer's assured touch guide this tender New York love story to a quietly hopeful conclusion.
  20. You, the Living
    Results are painfully amusing, frequently random and occasionally laugh-out-loud hilarious.
  21. In the Loop
    Intelligent political satire this expertly acted is nothing to sneeze at.
  22. Orphan
    Teasingly enjoyable rubbish through the first hour, Orphan becomes genuine trash during its protracted second half.
  23. The Ugly Truth
    The Ugly Truth is an arch, contrived, entirely predictable romantic comedy assembled with sufficient audience-friendly elements to put it over as both a good girls' night attraction and a date-night lure raunchy enough to leave couples in the right mood afterward.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    G-Force
    A fur-covered "A-Team" for the kiddies, G-Force is heavy on splashy pyrotechnics and predictably light on plot.
  25. The Answer Man
    Jeff Daniels' gleeful misanthropy and Lauren Graham's emotional openness are poorly served by the pic's transparently phony story and therapeutic uplift
  26. Deadgirl
    Arriving on the heels of America's torture-porn wave, Deadgirl takes a disturbing adolescent male fantasy and glosses it up just enough to pass for a legitimate horror movie.
  27. Shrink
    The film may be too inside-baseball, with strained sympathy and contrived emotions.
  28. Surviving Crooked Lake
    Sometimes shaky, sometimes smooth handheld DV lensing (by Drews and Krybus) gives the pic an immediacy that greatly enhances its dramatic and emotional impact.
  29. (500) Days of Summer
    Boy gets girl and boy loses girl in convoluted, sometimes cloying but ultimately winning fashion in 500 Days of Summer.
  30. A Woman in Berlin
    A stately, intermittently gripping, ultimately overlong drama.
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