Nancy DeWolf Smith, Wall Street Journal
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For 195 reviews, this critic has graded:
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62% higher than the average critic
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4% same as the average critic
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34% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 4.1 points higher than other critics.
(0-100 point scale)
Nancy DeWolf Smith's Scores
- TV
| Average review score: | 68 |
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| Highest review score: |
Critic Score
100
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| Lowest review score: |
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10
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 138 out of 195
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Mixed: 44 out of 195
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Negative: 13 out of 195
195
tv reviews
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
It's still a fun, fast ride, with lots of twists and turns, murder and menace, and after only a few episodes we know enough back story about most of the main characters to care what happens to them.- Posted Apr 6, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The latest version of Treasure Island on Syfy, stands out as a gem--although some plot changes for the sake of agitprop make it a flawed one.- Posted May 4, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
When all is said and done, none of these back stories is as inspiring as what happens when these people open their mouths and just sing.- Posted Jun 1, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The stage is thus set for an epic showdown between the dogged Lamb and Vincent, under whose calm facade lies a vicious shark of a man.- Posted Sep 21, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
Political Animals crams elements of conventional TV fare into a blender and makes something that is wildly different and kind of liberating.- Posted Jul 12, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The accomplishment here is that tight writing and editing, a solid cast with good timing and Mr. Sheen's chops as the ne plus ultra of sitcom performers, make the whole thing feel, if not entirely fresh-then crisp.- Posted Jun 28, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
Nobody here offers shattering insights into the meaning of life or even of modeling. They're just among a large group of attractive women telling stories to the camera.- Posted Jul 27, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
Fun even when it's ludicrous, forgivable when the clichés fly.- Posted Aug 24, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The vibe so far is part "Hunt for Red October," part "Lord of the Flies."- Posted Sep 21, 2012
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The tapestry of characters in George R.R. Martin's fantasy kingdom has grown so huge now that only the most avid fan can hope to identify them all, let alone keep track of the family ties, alliances and enmities which make this quasimedieval world so dangerous to nearly everyone in it.- Posted Mar 28, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The humans are still mostly good guys. Their dilemmas and antics--including blowing up a nuclear plant and giving birth to an infant who can stand up in her crib a few hours later--remain fun to watch.- Posted Jun 6, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
The sets are somewhat spartan, and the cast of investigators almost uniformly young and good looking (a token geezer gets eviscerated early on), never a good sign if big budgets and verisimilitude are your thing. Yet the animals that matter look terrifyingly real, and the prospect of watching the human cast try to put the ferocious visitors back where they came from before "history unravels" is exciting.- Posted Jun 6, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
[The Renaissance and Leonardo] bring moments of transcendent beauty to the series, which was written by David S. Goyer, and is laced with aha moments of glorious invention and the scent of mysticism. The line between mystery and bafflement is a thin one, though, and at times it is impossible to tell what's going on or who's who in the flickering torchlight. There is also a distraction, at least initially, in the portrayal of Leonardo--who comes across as a weird amalgam of Peter Pan, MacGyver and a Chippendale.- Posted Apr 11, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
While the show is full of comic highs and witty insight, it isn't funny all the time because some of the jokes are disappointingly crude.- Posted May 10, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 70
It's a straightforward story of iron determination to succeed against the odds—the options for drilling are now risky, and a failure means the loss of half a million dollars. But it is, beside that, a picture of a family, a portrait limited in its detail but dramatic nonetheless in its evidence of the tense relationship between the assured and driven CJ and his younger, college-educated brother.- Posted Jun 18, 2013
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
The language in "Huff" is still graphic and foul. What redeems it, as always, is the artful acting and occasional small scenes of quiet beauty. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
You don't have to be under 30 to enjoy this. It's no more, or less, ridiculous than ABC's massively-hyped hit about sex, love and secrets among housewives and other oldsters. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
After the male action sequences, alas, the feminine interludes tend to be soporific. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
Ultimately, though, it's not what happens to the folks on this show that is so revealing. It's what goes on in our own minds as we watch and listen to them try to navigate the shoals of racial differences. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
"Jericho" doesn't pretend to be artistically risky, but it's got a scary and gripping theme in an age of terrorism and nuclear thuggery. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
Here's hoping that the strong whiff of sanctimony in the pilot of "Studio 60" is blown away by fresh air in future episodes. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
The pilot moves along at a cracking pace, introducing new clues and characters and settings so fast that it's very tempting to sit back and enjoy the ride, ludicrous though some of it may be. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
You don't have to be a New Yorker to enjoy ESPN's eight-part miniseries, The Bronx is Burning, although it might help. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
For those of us who can't be bothered to decipher the mumbo jumbo, let alone take it seriously, there is diversion enough in each episode's discrete inner story, which doesn't require a mental decoder ring. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
No doubt Dollhouse will make a good computer game, although it looks like one already. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
While little of this is boring, the movie only sizzles and sparks when it jumps out of flashback mode and into the 1950s "present," with Ms. MacLaine as a slightly cranky and tottering but totally grand old dame. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
The humor in Community is so soft that it will likely please only the tenderhearted. The river that runs through it is a comforting one, though. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
Showtime's new comedy series la la land can be torture to watch, whether you end up choking with laughter or cringing at the sight of well-meaning folks being made fools of. -
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Nancy DeWolf Smith 60
Over a mere three episodes for this season, it is difficult to know most of the characters. Some, like Sir Hallam, seem only half-drawn. Agnes's sister Lady Persie (Claire Foy)--a debutante who's become a fascist fangirl--is repellant in an uninteresting way. There are some plot touches, involving minorities, that clang as too modern. Then again, when the Duke of Kent cries over his brother Edward's abdication--"It's the sort of thing that happens in Romania"--memories of what was so entrancing about the original show come wafting back.- Posted Apr 8, 2011
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