Variety's Scores

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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:
  1. Positive: 9,125 out of 17765
  2. Mixed: 7,004 out of 17765
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17765
17765 movie reviews
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  1. Baran
    A fine cast brings the believable, sometimes humorous characters to life and gradually draws the viewer into a well-crafted, well-paced story.
  2. Segunda piel
    Starts out slow but ends up engaging both heart and mind, despite occasional slips into straight melodrama.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Uprising
    It is a Holocaust story from a different angle, not the traditional depiction of a concentration camp or a rescue effort.
  4. Last Orders
    Delicately handled and superbly textured, this fine adaptation of Graham Swift's Booker Prize-winning novel deals with all the really big subjects: love, friendship, death, life.
  5. Eban and Charley
    Sometimes spare to a fault (especially scriptwise), low-key effort nonetheless holds attention with its naturalistic, nonsensationalized approach.
  6. The Business of Strangers
    While it could have used a punchier final act that distilled its themes more cogently and conclusively, this intelligently scripted drama about power and its many channels nonetheless delivers thanks to Stettner's stylish visual sense and, most of all, to the smart, commanding performances of leads Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles.
  7. No Man's Land
    As a tyro auteur, Tanovich has a heavy-handed way of delineating characters and situations that makes this well-meaning film awfully familiar at times.
  8. Ocean's Eleven
    An all-star remake of the all-star original, Ocean's Eleven is a lark for everybody concerned, including the audience. Breezy, nonchalant and without a thing on its mind except having a little fun.
  9. Lost in the Pershing Point Hotel
    Even in a more fluid package, this mix of camp comedy and bathos would seem artificial.
  10. B-52
    Filmmaker Hartmut Bitomsky needs nothing more than the cold facts surrounding this awesome weapon to get across a message about the importance of peace.
  11. Texas Rangers
    Has the frustrating feel of a rousing, epic oater sadly compromised.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Black Rain
    Richard Chamberlain is highly effective as a young lawyer caught up in a case of an aborigine murdered by some others in town.
  13. The Independent
    Would have worked better with a few more ersatz coming-attraction trailers and considerably less filler. More than likely, it would have worked best of all as an hourlong special on Comedy Central.
  14. The Affair of the Necklace
    A staggeringly misguided stab at making the past come alive by people who have absolutely no feel for period filmmaking. Banal at best and laughable at worst.
  15. Behind Enemy Lines
    An unembarrassed, high-octane demonstration of the virtues of a U.S. military with a mission, the latest war pic from 20th Century Fox -- a studio with a proud tradition in this field -- couldn't be better timed to fit the popular mood.
  16. Trouble Every Day
    Over-long, under-written and needlessly obscure instead of genuinely atmospheric.
    • 45 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Bangkok Dangerous
    Enjoyable in an undemanding way, and with a few interesting flourishes.
  18. In the Bedroom
    Beautifully acted by a diverse ensemble, this Good Machine production is carefully crafted and deliberately paced.
  19. Black Knight
    Arriving so soon after "A Knight's Tale" -- and the 25th-anniversary reissue of the classic "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," Black Knight is a textbook example of too much, too late.
  20. Sidewalks of New York
    Not just instantly forgettable, but beginning to fade from memory even as its images still play across the screen.
  21. The Devil's Backbone
    Though it fails in its final reels to capitalize on its early promise, picture is still stylish, accomplished and tremendously enjoyable fare.
  22. Spy Game
    Serves up a judicious blend of showy action, political intrigue, ticking-clock suspense and intramural CIA one-upsmanship for mainstream entertainment.
  23. Out Cold
    A few minutes of good snowboarding footage -- all in the first reel, alas -- after which it's strictly downhill, bunny-slope style.
  24. Così ridevano
    Problematically structured, overly protracted and lacking in narrative fluidity.
  25. Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy
    The Legend of Ron Jeremy is, at a brisk 75 minutes, long enough to get the job done.
  26. The Fluffer
    Distinguished by generally good performances and smart camerawork.
  27. Novocaine
    A Steve Martin vehicle that's not prankish or weird enough by half.
    • 46 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Simian Line
    Though picture is at times undermined by a lack of unifying perspective, its glimmers of greatness are a testament to the talent involved.
  29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
    The script is faithful, the actors are just right, the sets, costumes, makeup and effects match and sometimes exceed anything one could imagine.
  30. Bombay Eunuch
    Flavorsome package vividly captures Bombay slum life, neither neglecting nor overemphasizing the bawdy, drag-queenish flamboyance hijiras bring to its mix.
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