Variety's Scores

For 17,765 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:
17765 movie reviews
  1. So understated as to sometimes lack a pulse.
  2. An oddly schizophrenic fantasy thriller that ultimately succumbs to a fatal case of sentimentality.
  3. Silly script, broad slapstick and overstated lead perfs by B-team cast might be acceptable to target audience.
  4. Imagine a '30s screwball comedy played to a sensuous Brazilian beat and you're ready for Bossa Nova, a delightfully amusing romantic roundelay.
  5. Banal and trite where it could have been insightful and emotionally truthful, this Fox release is also notable for featuring the first disappointing performance by teen star Natalie Portman.
  6. If the satire feels familiar, and the dramatics often contrived, there's rarely a moment here when something funny, intense or cleverly interconnected doesn't keep one's synapses firing on overdrive.
  7. Like hard-edged "Masterpiece Theater."
  8. The submarine goes deep but the story never does in U-571, a good old-fashioned WWII picture that is exciting in only the most superficial way.
  9. Humor prevails throughout, but it doesn't deflate the disturbing elements of the tale, which miraculously manages to stay droll, heartfelt and poignant to the end.
  10. The pic is so well directed and lead performance by Sanaa Lathan so charismatic that audiences will overlook the script's flaws and root for the central duo.
  11. Newman's charismatic, multishaded performance elevates the hodgepodge caper comedy a couple of notches above its preposterous plotting and self-consciously movieish texture.
  12. Norton directs with assurance.
  13. A sprightly acted, warm and often extremely funny ensemble comedy.
  14. Pace is sleek, airless and apt.
  15. A simplistic, highly contrived romantic comedy about the mysterious workings of fate.
  16. A broad and obvious approach to ambiguous material that's virtually all plot mechanics with little nuance or characterization.
  17. Too often caught between trying to be a sweeping period drama and intimate love story at the same time, with a script that's never fully satisfying on either count.
  18. Rates a notch below the KISS-centric "Detroit Rock City" and a couple above Jerry Springer's "Ringmaster" -- in other words, closer to stupid-fun than stupid-toxic.
  19. May hold some appeal for Latino auds in the Southwest but will fold after a couple of rounds in the big arena.
  20. A strained and pallid concoction that won't fire the collective imaginations of modern children.
    • 24 Metascore
    • 20 Critic Score
    A silly, hackneyed college suspenser put across with all the contrived banality of a bad '70s TV movie.
  21. Trenchantly witty and acutely insightful.
  22. Young teen girls will flock to pic in droves, dragging their boyfriends or other girlfriends.
  23. Makes little impression and is sure to leave few memories for a teen.
  24. Snappy and unusually funny under fundamentally serious circumstances, without being contrived or sitcomy.
  25. Generates a respectable amount of suspense and takes a few unexpected turns while covering familiar territory.
  26. A gently and genuinely observed film whose subject is a garish, artificial display of mayhem.
  27. Brit filmmaker Sue Clayton's muddled feature bow is full of intriguing ideas and incidental charms that fail to come together into a cohesive whole.
  28. In outer space, no one can hear you scream -- of boredom.
  29. This is really a shaggy devil story whose giddy, ironic tone may throw viewers expecting a scary movie.

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