Washington Post's Scores

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For 11,478 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 46% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 52% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 5.3 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Movie review score: 60
Highest review score: 100 Oppenheimer
Lowest review score: 0 Dolittle
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6,014 out of 11478
  2. Mixed: 3,069 out of 11478
  3. Negative: 2,395 out of 11478
11478 movie reviews
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    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    We Live in Time
    In any event, Pugh uses her expressive eyes and ardent, intelligent sensibilities to paint a touching if underdeveloped portrait of an artist desperate to leave her mark before being rushed too soon from the show.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Slingshot
    The tension on the ship keeps accelerating in a straight and dramatically unsurprising line until the final scenes of “Slingshot,” at which point the twists come piling in, one after another, each shocker nullified by the next.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Wicked: For Good
    Despite its packed agenda, the film can also feel meandering and directionless.
    • 51 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Cleaner
    Cleaner is a “Die Hard” knockoff with just enough fresh elements to make it watchable on a slow streaming night.
    • 59 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    There's Still Tomorrow
    It speaks to a cultural sisterhood that knows exactly what Paola Cortellesi is talking about. But some things get lost in translation, and this lovingly crafted work of neorealist cosplay is one of them.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    A Working Man
    The latest collaboration between ever-reliable Brit of Few Words Jason Statham and writer-director David Ayer — who teamed up more fruitfully on last year’s “The Beekeeper,” a revenge flick as wonderfully unhinged as its title — seems to belong to a bygone, channel-surfing era.
  7. Smurfs
    Smurfs may be all over the multiverse, but it doesn’t land anywhere worth writing home about.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    After the Hunt
    The kind of statement that makes you feel like you’re watching a movie not about real people but about how eight years after #MeToo, we still haven’t figured out how to talk about it at all.
    • 43 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
    Kogonada gives us a bighearted sentimental “Journey,” and there will be audiences who will be there for it. But I hope for his next movie, he remembers he’s better at smaller favors.
    • 57 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
    I regret to report that Spinal Tap has become Dad Rock.
  11. Miracle Mile
    Of course, this is the stuff of suspense thrillers, but writer-director Steve DeJarnatt sets an unsure pace that tries our patience. It seems he's not committed to his story or his characters, but to the idea that he is saying something profound -- which he isn't.
    • 52 Metascore
    • 50 Critic Score
    Happy Gilmore 2
    Rather than aim for the flagstick, “Happy Gilmore 2” seems all too content to lay up in search of one gimme putt after another.
    • 58 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Henry Johnson
    Henry Johnson is unusual for Mamet in that it focuses on the prey. It’s also as close as a movie can get to a filmed play without including your dinner and a ride home.
  14. Manon of the Spring
    To completely sabotage the work, there is an insipid affair between Manon and a young teacher, Bernard (Hippolyte Girardot). Their juvenile romance blunts the epic effect that Berri obviously is trying to create.
  15. Heads of State
    As a blithely likable blunt instrument, Heads of State gets the job done, justifying its anesthetized mayhem with a sweet-natured message about the importance of friendship, international alliances and institutional continuity.
  16. Rust
    Rust, Alec Baldwin and Joel Souza’s slow-moving, sepia-toned homage to the American western, is the kind of respectable if unremarkable genre exercise that would have come and gone without much notice were it not for the circumstances of its making.
    • 48 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    The Unholy Trinity
    The Unholy Trinity is a reminder that they don’t make ’em like they used to — and maybe that’s a good thing. A pokey, low-budget Western enlivened by a couple of aging stars happily hamming it up, it’s the kind of B movie they used to program before the feature and after the cartoon in the old days.
  18. The Long Walk
    That existential paradox — are we all in this thing called life together, or is it every man for himself? — gives the film and its protagonists something meaty to chew on as it, and they, progress. But “The Long Walk” doesn’t dig into it in any deeply satisfying way.
  19. Good Fortune
    All the world is a farce, Ansari seems to say, while suggesting that it can still be saved. But like a breezy sitcom episode, his big-screen creation doesn’t feel the need to offer solutions.
    • 56 Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Straw
    Straw has all the feels it wants and little of the art it needs. But there’s nothing to suggest Tyler Perry would have it any other way.
    • tbd Metascore
    • 50 Reviewed by
      Ty Burr
    Tinā
    Directed and co-written by the Samoan filmmaker Miki Magasiva, the movie features a unique central character, a powerhouse star performance and some truly uplifting choral singing. Those are the good parts. The less good part is a script that pummels audiences with melodrama, manipulation and sentimental clichés until we all cry uncle.
  22. Christy
    Christy, a biopic that plays by the rules, doesn’t do justice to an athlete who gloriously broke so many of them.
  23. Babel
    Yet as sophisticated a piece of filmmaking as it is, it seems hamstrung by the banality at its center; that's why it never assembles into a satisfying whole. It's pretty -- oh, what's the word? -- stupid in its dramatization of the silly little connections that unite us, and it's somewhat selective in its choice of them.
    • 61 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Sunshine Cleaning
    A boring, choppy dramedy.
  25. Racing Stripes
    Although this film about a zebra who aspires to win horse races has a marvelous premise, it slows to a mediocre canter right out of the starting gate.
  26. Assault on Precinct 13
    Still breaks the first and only commandment of remakes: Thou shall at the very least do justice to the original, or thou shall not be made at all.
  27. Constantine
    Much of Constantine simply portends.
  28. Man of the House
    It's got a lot of small movies bouncing around inside it, but there's no big movie on the outside.
  29. Be Cool
    It's kind of -- hmmmm, less than good, a little better than not bad, almost all right, mediocre without being grating, sort of in the C-minus-to-C-minus-minus range.
  30. House of D
    A little more literary than lifelike, House of D is a story that feels too pat, and too perfect, for its own good.
  31. Monster-in-Law
    Ultimately one flat-footed beast.
  32. Mr. & Mrs. Smith
    To watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith, which continually sacrifices its potential for sophisticated fun on the altar of style and physical stunts, is to realize how far we've come from the great movies of, say, George Cukor or Howard Hawks.
  33. High Tension
    It can only be said that if you like this sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you like.
  34. Land of the Dead
    Too bad the plot held no surprises and the acting no revelations. No actor could be said to stand out and the movie never acquires much tension or momentum.
  35. Four Brothers
    Loud, stupid, unrealistic, overdone, without a thought in its ugly little head and kind of enjoyable.
  36. The Baxter
    With The Baxter, Showalter's begging his way into the ranks of the safe and the mediocre.
  37. In Her Shoes
    There'd be nothing wrong with this if the film 'fessed up to its kitschy soul. Instead, it pretends to be the high-minded drama it's not.
  38. Domino
    It's like a ferret on crystal meth that belatedly discovers ecstasy, and it's a tiresome trip either way.
  39. Where the Truth Lies
    Canadian director Atom Egoyan delivers a rare misfire with Where the Truth Lies, a shockingly fatuous murder mystery with pseudo-intellectual pretensions.
  40. Cheaper by the Dozen 2
    This is definitely a family trip to stay home and skip.
  41. The White Countess
    Despite its brilliant evocation of this great city at this most provocative time in history, the movie just gets sillier and sillier.
  42. The Ringer
    More than predictable. It plods along with the inevitability of a doomed soldier going off to war.
  43. The Promise
    The movie is full of invasions, assassination attempts, chases and escapes in seemingly random order, the result being completely chaotic.
  44. Nanny McPhee
    Even Thompson, the one you look forward to watching, is disappointing.
  45. When a Stranger Calls
    When a Stranger Calls never manages to convey the primal, almost atavistic terror that has earned John Carpenter's movies and the "Scream" franchise their places in the teen horror canon. The most lasting psychological effect of this pulp non-classic will most likely be limited to a deep pathological fear of Architectural Digest.
  46. Firewall
    Flagging energy isn't the only issue here; Ford has become enslaved in his own cliches.
  47. Winter Passing
    Winter Passing is one dull, extended encounter session among hackneyed characters -- although Deschanel gets the most points for almost imitating a human.
  48. Ask the Dust
    One of the most eagerly awaited cinematic projects of 2006, which may be why it lands with such a curious thud.
  49. Adam & Steve
    Strikes an unsatisfying balance between serious romantic texture and outright farce.
    • 55 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Take the Lead
    The young cast members are full of attitude and heart. But the film is long on flashy dance sequences and short on depth, character and craft.
  51. The Sentinel
    Sentinel is a medium-dumb thriller that starts out with momentary promise but gets progressively sillier.
  52. An American Haunting
    Tries -- and fails -- to evoke that whoa-did-this-really-happen edge.
  53. Goal! The Dream Begins
    The trouble with Goal!, which -- horror of horrors -- is the first of a trilogy, is that it's neither a persuasive story nor a satisfying display of soccer.
  54. The King
    Director and co-writer James Marsh clearly thinks he has made a grim and telling satire about fundamentalist hypocrisy. But he and co-writer Milo Addica display such contempt for their characters and religious conviction in general, they reduce everything to one-note banality.
  55. The Break-Up
    Nobody likes a fixed fight, except the backroom boys making the deal. Which is why The Break-Up may have its share of laughs, but isn't much fun.
  56. The Lake House
    The Lake House has the sensibility of something conceived by Stephen King after an overdose of chocolate-covered cherries and valentine cards. In other words, it's sugary sweet and based on a premise that's just -- no other word will do -- ridiculous.
  57. John Tucker Must Die
    But despite doing its best to jiggle, giggle and ogle its way into a niche somewhere between "Heathers" and "American Pie," it becomes just another forgettable pastiche of sight gags and pop-culture references.
  58. The Night Listener
    Aiming to blur the distinctions between truth and illusion, it simply blurs its own effectiveness by relying on predictable and not particularly convincing mystery-thriller formula.
  59. Brothers of the Head
    Ultimately, Brothers is a flashy, stylistic show of emptiness, intended to protest emptiness. But that's clear almost from the outset.
  60. Poster Boy
    Although audiences will admire the film's do-it-yourself energy and commitment, Poster Boy finally collapses of its own contrived weight, deflating just when it should soar into madcap -- or at least thoughtful -- satire.
    • 47 Metascore
    • 40 Critic Score
    Accepted
    Take the cast of 1978's "Animal House" and 1984's "Revenge of the Nerds," toss them on a desert island, watch them breed and enroll their raucous, kvetching offspring at a college for rejects. A fluffy teen comedy, Accepted gets annoying fast.
  62. Beerfest
    What's funny to Broken Lizard? Let's try: What's not funny? The answers are, everything and nothing. They'll do anything for a laugh, no matter how puerile, silly or offensive.
  63. Crossover
    Just a few more tweaks and Crossover could have been something special -- a truly terrible movie to savor for the ages. But nooo, this street ball movie -- has to settle for middle-of-the-road badness.
  64. The Wicker Man
    In an era of careful cost accountancy and focus-group testing, it's remarkable that a movie as truly, deeply, madly foolish as The Wicker Man escaped the asylum. But we must be grateful for the endless guffaws and gasps and outright stunned silences it unleashes on lucky audiences.
  65. The Black Dahlia
    Here's the lowdown, the q.t., the true gen: The Black Dahlia is a big nowhere.
  66. The Guardian
    Ultimately, The Guardian veers off into slobbery touchy-feeliness, and the tone becomes mock-religious, almost liturgical.
  67. Shortbus
    The premise -- a roundelay of New Yorkers looking for connection, or to escape it -- feels tired, and Mitchell's portrayal of sex as the ultimate vehicle for transcendence, self-knowledge and healing, while conveyed with authentic sweetness, seems shockingly naive.
  68. The Grudge 2
    A movie so bewildering and impenetrable that I believe it siphoned off a good 40 IQ points.
  69. A Good Year
    Falls as flat as a bottle of corked Bordeaux.
  70. Harsh Times
    The film amounts to a harsh and perpetual assault on viewers' sensibilities -- not only because of its violence but because of its overall bleakness.
  71. The Fountain
    It's a sprawling experiment in philosophical time travel and metaphysical noodling. And it's an earnest, magnificent wreck.
  72. Two Weeks
    To paraphrase her infamous Oscar speech: You will have to like Sally Field, you will have to really like Sally Field, to sit through Two Weeks.
  73. Unaccompanied Minors
    Unaccompanied Minors, a sort of junior league version of "The Breakfast Club," never achieves the universal appeal of John Hughes's 1985 film about youth and authority.
  74. Eragon
    Though I don't think giving it a cuddly human personality and the vocals of Rachel Weisz helps much, the thing itself, part dog, part fish, part weasel, part dinosaur, is a terrific illusion, and the technical team manages to really sell the idea of flight. Too bad the acting is so lame, the story so derivative and the thing so long.
  75. Factory Girl
    We find ourselves wondering about the real story, not this version.
  76. Code Name: The Cleaner
    Aside from Cedric's admittedly appealing persona -- he's always watchable, even in dreck like this -- there's absolutely nothing to recommend The Cleaner.
  77. Catch and Release
    Throughout, Garner retains a permanent grimace, as if persuasive acting can be achieved by contorting cheek muscles and pouting lips. It's not just depressing to watch; it's tiring. We want to tell her to relax -- for our own relief.
  78. The Situation
    Though Philip Haas's digitally shot film has the firsthand immediacy of such nonfictional docs as "Iraq in Fragments" and "Gunner Palace," its dramatic template feels disappointingly secondhand.
  79. Hannibal Rising
    The movie streamlines much of Harris's book. It's a shame, because it results in the movie's fundamental flaw -- the one-dimensionality of Hannibal.
  80. Gray Matters
    Unfortunately, the film, written and directed by Sue Kramer, starts with a distinctly uncomfortable moral baseline: How exactly is any audience supposed to identify with a character whose relationship with her brother borders on the incestuous?
  81. Wild Hogs
    The movie never rises to the level of the professional, much less the comic. The gags are witless and surprisingly gross. The four actors, each accustomed to being at the center, never develop any rhythm, any chemistry, any anything.
  82. Black Snake Moan
    Parading through most of the movie in a cutoff T-shirt and bikini briefs, Ricci takes the stereotype of the oversexed farmer's daughter to gothic extremes; Jackson's character, named Lazarus, is similarly drawn with oversize strokes.
  83. Premonition
    Sandra Bullock is a disheveled, grumpy, adorable mess in Premonition, a psychological thriller that was no doubt pitched as "Medium," only longer and brunette. Or maybe "The Eternal Sixth Sense of the Spotless Groundhog Day."
  84. Vacancy
    For horror fans who appreciate a bit of craft with their second-rate experiences -- Paul Haslinger's fear-mongering score is terrific for what it's worth -- this might merit a future late-night rental.
  85. Bratz
    This is a movie for a grade-schooler's -- a female grade-schooler's -- sensibility. It's earnest, silly and sweet, with just enough food fights and musical numbers to keep everyone else from gagging on the goo.
  86. Hot Rod
    Only fitfully amusing. More often, it feels like a mediocre attempt to reprise the central elements of the infinitely funnier "Napoleon Dynamite."
  87. The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
    It's a depressing little kingdom, even when Gordon tries desperately to goose the drama with the requisite "Eye of the Tiger" riffs and some junior high-level palace intrigue.
  88. Balls of Fury
    The nicest thing is the Asian American actress known as Maggie Q.
  89. Across the Universe
    A yawn and most unforgivably features some appalling arrangements of the Beatles' best-loved songs.
  90. In the Valley of Elah
    Haggis also appears to have no respect for his audience. At its crudest, the film settles for agitprop...it's no Hollywood guy's call, particularly as he's extrapolating from a single case that could have occurred anywhere, at any time.
  91. King of California
    There's so little authenticity between them, it destroys the story's most crucial element: the love between father and daughter. And finding the gold becomes our only reason to watch.
  92. Good Luck Chuck
    The movie spares no effort to reach out to the crudest, youngest audiences it can.
  93. The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising
    This movie is a particular disappointment. Although The Seeker is in Walden's tradition of positive storytelling, John Hodge's script is guilty of downright goofy utterances on occasion.
  94. Bee Movie
    The more the movie progresses, the more you realize how much Seinfeld's voice sounds like a droning bee -- the kind you want to swat away.
  95. Lions for Lambs
    But for all its passion and topical currency, the movie plays too often like a college colloquium. And it ends on an unsatisfying note, with each character's choice, whether fateful or fatal, hanging in a confounding limbo of indeterminacy.
  96. The Golden Compass
    The movie simply delivers too many colorfuls for its own good, none of whom establish a true emotional identity, and thus it isn't moving, it's busy. Busy, busy, busy.
  97. Revolver
    Its main purpose -- and no, you are not experiencing ocular breakdown -- is spiritual.
  98. Youth Without Youth
    Unfortunately, "Youth" becomes so lost in its own conceptual, convoluted vortex, it becomes virtually incomprehensible. Coppola proves that even the best of our film artists can lose sight of what this medium is all about: entertaining, enlightening and including its audience.
  99. The Other Boleyn Girl
    Even by its own standards, the movie becomes increasingly macabre and ludicrous as Anne's machinations get the better of her, and everyone, including the audience, is left feeling shattered, shaken and vaguely unclean for having participated in all this.
  100. Semi-Pro
    Andre Benjamin, Woody Harrelson, Maura Tierney and David Koechner -- all talented -- seem amazingly zombie-like here. And Jackie Earle Haley, as a stoner fan of the Tropics, is more disconcerting than funny.
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