Variety's Scores

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For 17,782 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: 9,136 out of 17782
  2. Mixed: 7,010 out of 17782
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17782
17782 movie reviews
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  1. Material Girls
    It's less substantial than cotton candy, but Material Girls is as slickly produced as one of the Marchetta TV spots.
  2. Factotum
    Arguably one of the best adaptations of Bukowski's work, even compared with Bukowski's own script for 1997's "Barfly," deadpan timing and ace perfs bring out the morose humor and surprising warmth in the often miserabilist scribe's voice.
  3. Trust the Man
    For those who appreciate the Woody Allen view of New York but would prefer fewer neurotics, Trust the Man provides a loving take on bourgeois Manhattan contentment that's usually only found in episodes of "Will & Grace."
  4. 10th & Wolf
    A lackluster actioner.
  5. King Leopold's Ghost
    Ghost throws its most powerful punch in its second half, reporting on contempo events as a direct repeat of the ghastly Leopold era.
  6. Pusher II: With Blood On My Hands
    Along with the continual build-up of tension and threatened (more than shown) violence, pic is notable for its brutal depiction of the sex industry.
  7. Conversations with Other Women
    The battle of the sexes is restaged to clever but inconsequential effect in Conversations With Other Women. Very much a case of old wine in a new bottle.
  8. Pulse
    A dumbed-down remake of Kiyoshi Kurosawa's disturbingly abstract Japanese horror film.
  9. Step Up
    Fresh cast, a formulaic but engaging storyline, and a smoking soundtrack from rap and hip-hop luminaries.
  10. Zoom
    This tepid comic-bookish comedy should zip through its theatrical run faster than a speeding bullet. It likely won't perform much more superheroically in ancillary venues.
  11. Half Nelson
    Avoiding rote inspirational notes as well as boyz-in-the-hood violence, scrupulously low-key drama nonetheless builds to a powerful impact.
  12. The L.A. Riot Spectacular
    A comedy that's vulgar, disturbing, distasteful and violent, but so is injustice and civil unrest.
  13. Poster Boy
    Underproduced and compromised by an uneven script and a tendency to descend into melodrama, the DV-lensed feature nonetheless is well acted and directed with confidence.
  14. House of Sand
    Magnificently renders a fresh view of life on planet Earth.
  15. Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna
    A star-loaded, Gotham-set relationships movie that's generally good but works better in bits than as a whole.
  16. Who Needs Sleep?
    A comprehensive, personal and surprisingly engaging look at how film crews routinely work hours far beyond anything that can be considered safe, healthy or conducive to a balanced life.
  17. World Trade Center
    World Trade Center yields lovely and touching moments but proves a slow-going, arduous movie experience.
  18. Lunacy
    More moving animal parts and less human pontificating would make a stronger case for a tale already rich in imagery. Another drawback is Liska, too one-dimensional to stand against Triska's overpowering performance.
  19. The Descent
    The chills and spills keep comin' to agreeable effect in Brit-made scarefest The Descent.
  20. Barnyard
    Zippy enough to delight youngsters and clever enough to engage their parents.
  21. The Night Listener
    Aiming for unsettling atmosphere over character definition, the dawdling mystery thriller manages to flatten two protagonists that had far more depth in the novel.
  22. Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
    Simultaneously teasing and loving a subject doesn't make for easy comedy, but writer-star Will Ferrell and director/co-writer Adam McKay pull it off with good-ol'-boy good nature in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.
  23. The Bridesmaid
    At 74, Chabrol is in full possession of his talent for elegant, understated filmmaking, though he's far from his disturbing films of the '50s and '60s.
  24. My Country, My Country
    Gotham-based documaker Laura Poitras ("Flag Wars") comes up with a still-timely, quietly hard-hitting look at the Iraqi situation with My Country, My Country, focusing on the lead-up to and outcome of the Jan. 30, 2005, Iraq election.
  25. Quinceañera
    This is a fresh, spirited drama, charming and unpretentious. It mines a similar vein to recent Latino-themed pics such as "Raising Victor Vargas" and "Real Women Have Curves."
  26. Boynton Beach Club
    Briskly paced humor and/or pathos flow organically from situation and characters.
  27. Shock to the System
    Enough action, a tiny pinch of sex and some campy moments from Morgan Fairchild.
  28. Nightmare Man
    Perfs are either absurdly stiff or over-the-top, and effects and makeup look like they were made in someone's garage.
  29. Vacationland
    Marred by sluggish script and Verow's inability to either direct actors or cast ones whose thesping ability matches their good looks.
  30. Miami Vice
    Unlike most TV-to-movie transitions, Mann returns to his roots and delivers what amounts to a slightly overblown episode, brimming with style and characteristically short on substance.
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