Variety's Scores

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For 17,810 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: 9,150 out of 17810
  2. Mixed: 7,023 out of 17810
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17810
17810 movie reviews
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  1. This Is England
    With its knockout lead perfs and taut if slightly familiar construction, this '80s-set dramedy about a skinhead gang reps Meadows' most fluently made film so far.
  2. Who's Your Caddy?
    An instantly forgettable trifle.
  3. Arctic Tale
    Queen Latifah proves an amiably authoritative narrator, and is allowed more personality than most script readers.
  4. The Devil Came on Horseback
    While the point of view of privileged, Anglo observers on African issues usually raises hackles, such is not the case with The Devil Came on Horseback, a tense account of former Marine Capt. Brian Steidle's witnessing of the genocide in Sudan's western province of Darfur.
  5. The Sugar Curtain
    Those on both sides of the great Cuba divide should find food for thought in these sober, realistic reflections.
  6. Cashback
    Slickly charming, genteelly erotic and directed with supreme polish, Cashback is a conventional romantic comedy that plays unconventional games with time and memory.
  7. Goya's Ghosts
    Ambitious script is stranded between entertainment and intellectualism, leaving us with a magnificent folly, thoroughly watchable for its visuals but ultimately hollow.
  8. Hairspray
    It's one of the best Broadway-tuner adaptations in recent years -- yes, arguably even better than those Oscar-winning ones.
  9. I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry
    The kind of buddy comedy Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau might have starred in 40 years ago, when the material would have felt less dated, if no less silly.
  10. Sunshine
    Like a collapsing star, Sunshine initially burns brightly but finally implodes into a dramatic black hole.
  11. Your Mommy Kills Animals
    There are no good guys or bad guys in this propulsive film, but there's enough in the way of odd characters and bad behavior to amuse and inform auds who only marginally care about the content.
  12. Live-In Maid
    A fairly successful attempt at satire, though given the subject, there's a lot of darkness under the carpet.
  13. Hula Girls
    Utterly predictable but it sure is a lot of fun.
  14. Interview
    Afforded a comparatively rare chance to stretch out in a complex lead role, Buscemi is excellent.
  15. My Best Friend
    Well-turned adult comedy.
  16. Talk to Me
    Alternates too deliberately between jaunty comedy and serious message-making.
    • 65 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Tekkonkinkreet
    Strained metaphysics dovetail with urban and architectural nostalgia in the exquisitely realized, minutely detailed Japanese anime Tekkonkinkreet.
  18. Time
    Script is sometimes confusingly structured, and in its second half doesn't move as smoothly from scene to scene as in Kim's best pics.
  19. Captivity
    Destined to be better remembered for its grisly billboard imagery than for its relatively tame torture-porn tropes, Captivity is a thoroughly nasty piece of work that nonetheless earns credit for generating modest suspense after a predictable but effective plot twist around the 50-minute mark.
  20. Shortcut to Happiness
    Less compelling than all the behind-the-scenes Sturm und Drang. Even Baldwin, who waived his directing credit in favor of the pseudonymous Harry Kirkpatrick, has warned fans to stay away.
  21. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
    Considerably grimmer and grittier than the previous pictures.
  22. Drama/Mex
    An unerring compositional eye plus firm control of an inventive structure keep Drama/Mex well within the attention span, even when the script wanders without seeming to know why.
  23. Joshua
    A creepy-little-kid suspenser decked out with sufficient class to lend it a certain distinction.
  24. The Method
    Smartly and seamlessly blending a cast of talented Argentine and Spanish thesps, Pineyro seems to be testing how much cinema he can derive from a restricted space.
  25. Introducing the Dwights
    Warm and entertaining enough, with Brenda Blethyn doing a variation on her "Little Voice" vulgarian amid appealing support perfs.
  26. Rescue Dawn
    As far as establishing a sense of period goes, Herzog cleaves to a refreshing less-is-more philosophy. This may be the first Vietnam-set film in history not to feature a bar of Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones or indeed any other rock music on its soundtrack.
  27. Transformers
    Big, loud and full of testosterone-fueled car fantasies, Michael Bay's actioner hits a new peak for CGI work, showcasing spectacular chases and animated transformation sequences seamlessly blended into live-action surroundings.
  28. License to Wed
    Pic is at best a relatively harmless way to enjoy air conditioning for those who admire Williams' ability to riff, even at his most irritating.
  29. Ratatouille
    Ratatouille is delicious. In this satisfying, souffle-light tale of a plucky French rodent with a passion for cooking, the master chefs at Pixar have blended all the right ingredients -- abundant verbal and visual wit, genius slapstick timing, a soupcon of Gallic sophistication -- to produce a warm and irresistible concoction that's sure to appeal to everyone's inner Julia Child.
  30. Sicko
    An affecting and entertaining dissection of the American health care industry, showing how it benefits the few at the expense of the many.
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