Variety's Scores

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For 17,805 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 17805
  2. Mixed: 7,020 out of 17805
  3. Negative: 1,637 out of 17805
17805 movie reviews
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  1. The Secret Agent
    A dour study of terrorism, 1880s style, The Secret Agent represents an adaptation of Joseph Conrad's only London-based novel, the fidelity of which to the original text does not yield a terrifically exciting film.
  2. The Disappearance of Finbar
    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.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Annie
    In an effort to be more 'realistic' Annie winds up exposing just how weak a story it had to start with [stage play book by Thomas Meehan], not helped here by the music [songs by Charles Strouse and Martin Charnin].
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Lock Up
    Lock Up is made in the same, simplistic vein as most other Sylvester Stallone pics - putting him, the blue-collar protagonist, against the odds over which he ultimately prevails.
  5. Jonah Hex
    The film's noisy, slam-bang approach and lack of imagination in all nonvisual departments will keep it from rounding up a fresh generation of thrill-seekers.
  6. Beastly
    A kiss may cure the monster, but not even campy performances from Mary-Kate Olsen and Neil Patrick Harris can save this ugly snarl of cliches.
  7. Marmaduke
    With extended closing credits, Marmaduke clocks in at 88 minutes and feels longer.
  8. Too Much Sleep
    The material is slender, the characters not sufficiently engaging or eccentric for a feature-length movie.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Barenaked in America
    An only occasionally interesting look at a rather ordinary bunch of musicians.
  10. Leela
    Succeeds only as a cultural exchange of cinematic cliches.
  11. Some Body
    Has a quasi-verite, improvisational feel that appears truthful. But it doesn't lend much sympathy, or depth, to characters who never seem worth knowing.
  12. A House on a Hill
    Pic's air of connoisseurist homage overwhelms a haphazard screenplay and characters who are hard to warm up to.
  13. Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen
    An awkward blend of documentary and genre pic.
  14. Rhinoceros Eyes
    Not sufficiently compelling.
  15. Foreign Sister
    Unfortunately, Wolman's flat direction accentuates the predictable course of his soft narrative.
  16. Jersey Guy
    The unfocused writing makes the film increasingly less convincing as it stumbles toward an awkwardly structured resolution -- closing on a conga line that makes "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" seem cutting-edge.
  17. Anonymous
    Although occasionally witty, even with its abundant lashings of sex, both pic and selfish, narcissistic hero grow tiresome over surprisingly brief running time.
  18. Planet Earth: Dreams
    Mendel's visuals consistently fall short of the strange oneiric quality of Foreman's strategically normal-seeming dialogue, with its subtly irregular pauses and repetitions, its austere ellipses and enigmatic insistences.
  19. Ghostlight
    Neither fish nor fowl, slick yet strangely rudderless Ghostlight sounds interesting in description but lacks fascination in actual viewing.
  20. Flavors
    Likeable, credible actors, snappy dialogue and a determinedly upbeat tone should work well on cable and score with Indian diaspora auds. But pic lacks density and spontaneity necessary to lift it out of its carefully posed and plotted set-ups and onto a bigscreen.
  21. Clockstoppers
    A blandly conceived youth adventure lacking zing or style.
  22. Evergreen
    Land gives the drama some poignancy, revealing the pain, anger, envy and longing of a girl burdened by life's imbalances. But her character exists in a vacuum, surrounded by stock figures and unconvincing actors.
  23. Chop Suey
    Bids to whip homoerotic iconography into something palatable for those suspicious of the cuisine.
  24. The Burial Society
    Screen chemistry and production crackle are lacking from this "Usual Suspects" wannabe.
  25. Ciao America
    Never less than pleasant and genteel, but rarely more.
  26. In the Face of Evil: Reagan's War in Word and Deed
    Archival material -- especially rare B&W Soviet footage -- is a knockout, though the assembly of talking heads, nearly all Reagan loyalists, is predictable and uninspired.
  27. Ticket to Jerusalem
    Attempts to meld reality and artifice but to uninspiring results.
  28. Way Off Broadway
    Both extremely familiar and, despite frequent references to Stanley Kubrick and Orson Welles, cinematically and dramatically dull.
  29. Ae Fond Kiss...
    The flatness of several of the key performances badly lets down this promising material.
  30. Master of the Game
    There's a provocative premise at the heart of Master of the Game, but uneven acting, indifferent direction and melodramatic dialogue blunt pointed ironies.
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