Variety's Scores

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For 17,825 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: 9,159 out of 17825
  2. Mixed: 7,029 out of 17825
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17825
17825 movie reviews
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  1. Smokers Only
    A walk on the "dark side" that moves far more slowly than limited character insight requires.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    America So Beautiful
    Pictures general subject matter was given a more intimate and graceful treatment in last year's Los Angeles Film Festival entry "Maryam." This comparatively jumbled, unevenly paced item lacks nuance or distinction.
  3. The Cherry Orchard
    Chekhov has never seemed such a long haul as in this awkward adaptation of The Cherry Orchard by veteran director Michael Cacoyannis, 77, who's assembled a good roster of names but ones that are not necessarily right for their roles.
  4. Returning Mickey Stern
    Undone by an idea capable of hanging together for 30 minutes at best.
  5. Blow Dry
    Limp comedy-drama.
  6. When Brendan Met Trudy
    Intermittently funny movie. Almost every scene recreates or alludes to a Hollywood or foreign classic.
  7. Novocaine
    A Steve Martin vehicle that's not prankish or weird enough by half.
  8. The Road to El Dorado
    A strained and pallid concoction that won't fire the collective imaginations of modern children.
  9. I Am Trying to Break Your Heart
    May leave itself open to charges of being little more than a promo feature posing as a documentary, but pic nevertheless is a warts-and-all look at a group of musicians -- and the music biz -- likely to make most record label flacks flinch.
  10. Little Otik
    An unsettling piece of filmmaking whose grimly vivid images are guaranteed to give impressionable viewers nightmares.
  11. Under the Moonlight
    Though its subject has curiosity value, its critical view of religious institutions is compromised by an ending that evidently was necessary for the film to be made and released at all.
  12. Cet amour-là
    A limp-to-wilted film version of Duras' 16-year-long love affair with a young man who became her secretary and literary executor.
  13. Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God... Be Back by Five
    Though intermittently engaging and decently acted, the movie suffers from a repetitive format, with too many shifts in time that prove disruptive.
  14. Poor White Trash
    At its best, in its early, more subdued passages, Poor White Trash provides a couple of pristine comic moments. At its worst, it spirals uncontrollably into an unfunny void.
  15. Tokyo Eyes
    Brings nothing new to the table, and spends far too long making the audience think it will.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    The Operator
    A mostly slick, intelligent psychological thriller/modern morality tale flawed by occasional lapses of subtlety and a central performance that veers just to the wrong side of empathetic.
  17. The Weekend
    Despite some memorable high points, pic plays like "Love! Valour! Compassion!" -- without the laughs.
  18. Mercy Streets
    No mere crime drama, but rather the latest in the recent resurgence of independently financed, spiritually themed pics that seek to couch religious dogma within the shells of B-grade genre entertainment.
  19. The Mesmerist
    Plays like a mercilessly extended version of an uninspired "Saturday Night Live" sketch.
  20. Boys Life 3
    A typical grab bag of works of varying depth, all of them breezy and entertaining.
  21. The Crew
    The sentimentality is gently but firmly restrained in a potentially treacly subplot.
  22. Mumford
    Kasdan's direction here is even less energized than his writing.
  23. Naqoyqatsi
    Possessed of another outstanding wall-to-wall score by Philip Glass but rather fuzzy in its message, entry differs from its predecessors in that roughly 80% of its images are derived from existing sources and have been "tortured and recontextualized" to unusual and sometimes extreme effect.
  24. Random Hearts
    An ideal rainy day matinee attraction for well-to-do ladies of a certain age.
  25. P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!
    Lacking the knockout lead perfs or more whimsical tone that might have transcended script's dubious logic, pic comes off as a so-so theatrical stunt delivered via the wrong medium.
  26. Edtv
    A certain staleness hangs over the proceedings despite the best efforts of the cast and the fun-minded creative team.
  27. Martin & Orloff
    Extending skit comedy into full-length form is a tricky and, despite lots of snappy acerbic wordplay and inspired zany moments, pic works only intermittently.
  28. Snow Falling on Cedars
    Impeccably crafted but dramatically dull.
    • 44 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Vatel
    Vatel, a no-expense-spared costumer, is further proof that all the money and technical expertise in the world are no substitutes for a good screenplay and creative direction.
  30. Sex with Strangers
    Doesn't compare favorably with David Schisgall's similarly themed "The Lifestyle," released to arthouses last year.
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