Variety's Scores

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For 17,760 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: 9,121 out of 17760
  2. Mixed: 7,003 out of 17760
  3. Negative: 1,636 out of 17760
17760 movie reviews
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    • 58 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    The Pope of Greenwich Village
    The Pope of Greenwich Village, set in Manhattan’s Italian community, is a near-miss in its transition from novel [by Vincent Patrick] to film, setting forth an offbeat slice-of-life tale of small-time guys involved in big trouble.
    • 36 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Rhinestone
    Effortlessly living up to its title, Rhinestone is as artificial and synthetic a concoction as has ever made its way to the screen.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Under the Volcano
    Although this voyage into self-destruction won’t be to the taste of many, there will be few unmoved by Finney’s towering performance as the tragic Britisher, his values irretrievably broken down, drowning himself in alcohol and practically inviting his own death.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Ghostbusters
    Within the top-heavy cast, it’s Murray’s picture, as the popular comedian deadpans, ad libs and does an endearing array of physical schtick.
    • 70 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Gremlins
    The humans are little more than dress-extras for the mechanics.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Top Secret!
    The attempted target this time is a combination of the traditional spy film and Elvis Presley musical romps, which in and of itself is funny to start with. And Val Kilmer proves a perfect blend of staunch hero and hothouse heartthrob.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
    Star Trek III is an emotionally satisfying science fiction adventure. Dovetailing neatly with the previous entry in the popular series, Star Trek II.
    • Variety
    • 75 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Once Upon a Time in America
    Once Upon a Time in America arrives as a disappointment of considerable proportions. Sprawling $32 million saga of Jewish gangsters over the decades is surprisingly deficient in clarity and purpose, as well as excitement and narrative involvement.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Streets of Fire
    A pulsing, throbbing orchestration careening around the rescue of a kidnapped young singer. The decor is urban squalor.
  10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
    Spielberg is such a talented director it’s a shame to see him lose all sense of subtlety and nuance.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Firestarter
    Script by Stanley Mann is quite faithful to the Stephen King novel, but cinematically that loyalty is damaging. Picture's length can't sustain the material.
    • Variety
    • 61 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    The Natural
    The Natural is an impeccably made, but quite strange, fable about success and failure in America. Redford is perfectly cast as the wary, guarded Hobbs.
    • Variety
    • 61 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Sixteen Candles
    Ringwald is engaging and credible. For the boys, there's a bright, funny performance by Anthony Michael Hall.
    • 53 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Breakin'
    On a plot level, concoction is too derivative of Flashdance for its own good, as the premise once again is untrained, but highly skilled and imaginative, street dancers versus the stuffy, inflexible dance establishment. Aside from the fainthearted choices, however, film is quite satisfactory and breezily entertaining on its own terms.
    • Variety
    • 62 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Bounty
    The Bounty is an intelligent, firstrate, revisionist telling of the famous tale of Fletcher Christian's mutiny against Captain Bligh. Particularly distinguished by a sensational, and startlingly human, performance by Anthony Hopkins as Bligh, heretofore one of history's most one-dimensional villains.
    • 33 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter
    Given, however, the consistent pro production value, the evisceration on parade is not campy.
    • 60 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Swing Shift
    With all the heartwarming heroics to choose from on the homefront in World War II, Swing Shift tries instead to twist some consequence out of a tawdry adulterous tryst by a couple of self-centered sneaks. But the writing and acting are too flat for the challenge.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Moscow on the Hudson
    Directed by Paul Mazursky with his usual unusual touches, Moscow would be in a lot of trouble without a superbly sensitive portrayal by Robin Williams of a gentle Russian circus musician who makes a sudden decision to defect while visiting the US.
    • 63 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Romancing the Stone
    Heading for the jungles in her high heels, Turner is like a lot of unwitting screen heroines ahead of her, guaranteed that her drab existence is about to be transformed – probably by a man, preferably handsome and adventurous. Sure enough, Michael Douglas pops out of the jungle. The expected complications are supplied by the kidnappers, Danny DeVito and Zack Norman.
    • 62 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes
    On a production level, film is a marvel, as fabulous Cameroon locations have been seamlessly blended with studio recreations of jungle settings.
    • 41 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Police Academy
    Police Academy at its core is a harmless, innocent poke at authority that does find a fresh background in a police academy.
    • 39 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Tank
    James Garner’s persona gives the events a soft, human, and at times bemused edge.
    • 71 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Splash
    Screenplay is marred by some glaring loopholes in its inner structure but story is a sweet takeoff on the innocence, mythology and sensuality associated with mermaids.
    • Variety
    • 36 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Hotel New Hampshire
    While it is decidedly not to all tastes, The Hotel New Hampshire is a fascinating, largely successful adaptation of John Irving’s 1981 novel. Writer-director Tony Richardson has pulled off a remarkable stylistic tight-rope act, establishing a bizarre tone of morbid whimsicality at the outset and sustaining it throughout.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    Repo Man
    Repo Man has the type of unerring energy that leaves audiences breathless and entertained.
    • 92 Metascore
    • 90 Critic Score
    This Is Spinal Tap
    A vastly amusing satire of heavy metal bands.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 70 Critic Score
    Against All Odds
    If not for a somewhat murky and misanthropic ending, Against All Odds would stand as a well-engineered second-try at 1947's "Out of the Past."
    • 30 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Harry & Son
    Fuzzily conceived and indecisively executed, Harry & Son represents a deeply disappointing return to the director's chair for Paul Newman. Cowritten and coproduced by the star as well, pic [suggested by the novel A Lost King by Raymond DeCapite] never makes up its mind who or what it wants to be about and, to compound the problem, never finds a proper style in which to convey the tragicomic events that transpire.
    • 42 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Footloose
    By writing both the screenplay and contributing lyrics to nine of the film’s songs, Dean Pitchford has come up with an integrated story line that works.
    • 50 Metascore
    • 30 Critic Score
    Lassiter
    Hutton is totally unbelievable with her Germanic accent and evil habits. As the girlfriend, Jane Seymour is wasted. Her role is basically to stand by as Selleck races about trying to grab the diamonds and run.
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