Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times
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For 385 reviews, this critic has graded:
  • 67% higher than the average critic
  • 2% same as the average critic
  • 31% lower than the average critic
On average, this critic grades 6.8 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)

Steve Persall's Scores

  • Movies
Average review score: 66
Highest review score:
Rango
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
The Watch
Critic Score 0
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 257 out of 385
  2. Mixed: 82 out of 385
  3. Negative: 46 out of 385
385 movie reviews
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    • Metascore: 70
    • Steve Persall 58
    The Skin I Live In
    Almodóvar dives into perversity, practically daring the audience not to follow. The Skin I Live In is a mediocre addition to his resume, yet for fans, even bad Almodóvar is better than none at all.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Steve Persall 58
    Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
    The strategy deserves to self-destruct in five seconds.
    • Metascore: 58
    • Steve Persall 58
    We Bought a Zoo
    In telling someone else's story Crowe loses track of his own as a cultural definer, not a panderer. Mee bought a zoo; Crowe sells out.
    • Metascore: 54
    • Steve Persall 58
    The Iron Lady
    There's no disputing Streep's brilliance, which this time feels more calculated than usual, in a movie demanding only an impersonation.
    • Metascore: 67
    • Steve Persall 58
    Haywire
    Soderbergh doesn't always match his pacing to Mallory's fury.
    • Metascore: 31
    • Steve Persall 58
    This Means War
    At least This Means War is an equal opportunity misfire, with as much appeal for men as women, compared to a one-sided weeper like "The Vow."
    • Metascore: 40
    • Steve Persall 58
    Act of Valor
    Act of Valor will likely earn high praise from combat veterans and their families, the way movies like "Fireproof" and "Seven Days in Utopia" resonate with Christians. Civilians, movie critics and certainly pacifists won't be nearly as impressed.
    • Metascore: 58
    • Steve Persall 58
    Men in Black III
    If this movie truly cost $375 million to produce and market (as the L.A. Times reported), the biggest chunk isn't on the screen.
    • Metascore: 58
    • Steve Persall 58
    Trouble with the Curve
    Director Robert Lorenz makes a nondescript debut, after assisting Eastwood on several of his directing gigs. The student hasn't learned much from the teacher about economic storytelling or deflecting schmaltz.
    • Metascore: 35
    • Steve Persall 58
    Identity Thief
    Identity Thief is a road movie with its creative lanes clogged, and a Mack truck comedian barreling through, anyway.
    • Metascore: 44
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Losers
    Without previous knowledge of Andy Diggle's comics, The Losers looks like every other globetrotting gunpowder flick in which good guy bullets never miss and bad guy bullets never hit their targets.
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    • Metascore: 43
    • Steve Persall 50
    MacGruber
    Will Forte plays his pitifully deluded creation to the hilt in a penknife movie. There's a lot of material here that only occasionally succeeds on Forte's insanely focused performance.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 65
    • Steve Persall 50
    Salt
    Salt is a movie constantly painting itself into corners then tromping out with arbitrary twists and action distractions.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 69
    • Steve Persall 50
    Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
    Wright is an insanely funny filmmaker (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) yet only the front half of that description carries over to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
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    • Metascore: 45
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Expendables
    If anyone gets a career boost from The Expendables it will be Dolph Lundgren, playing a drug-addicted loose Howitzer booted from the team and flipping to the bad side.
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    • Metascore: 50
    • Steve Persall 50
    Lottery Ticket
    Whatever laughter Lottery Ticket earns is through familiarity with these exaggerated characters, and actors going the extra mile to make viewers believe they haven't seen this material before.
    Read full review
    • Metascore: 69
    • Steve Persall 50
    Never Let Me Go
    Imagine a stuffy Merchant Ivory production blended with muted Michael Crichton sci-fi and you have Never Let Me Go, at least as it plays on screen.
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    • Metascore: 56
    • Steve Persall 50
    Hereafter
    Hereafter doesn't feel like a Clint Eastwood film; it's more like a very special edition of John Edward's psychic TV show.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Steve Persall 50
    Unstoppable
    Unstoppable isn't unwatchable, but it is a letdown after "Speed" and some of the Speed-on-a-(fill in the blank with a vehicle) flicks that followed. Forget missing Hopper; even Keanu Reeves might make this movie more entertaining.
    • Metascore: 46
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Dilemma
    As a rollicking comedy, it isn't.
    • Metascore: 37
    • Steve Persall 50
    Battle: Los Angeles
    What nags me about Battle Los Angeles is that Liebesman never realizes what he set up to happen after the fade-out.
    • Metascore: 36
    • Steve Persall 50
    Arthur
    Brand is amusing, in a nutty "Get Him to the Greek" sort of way, while Moore delivered one of the funniest performances ever.
    • Metascore: 28
    • Steve Persall 50
    Atlas Shrugged: Part I
    As a cinematic effort, Atlas Shrugged: Part I is competent; in service to Ayn Rand's epic novel, it's less so.
    • Metascore: 60
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Beaver
    The Beaver plays like a thickly veiled confessional and plea for forgiveness. It's too creepy for comfort.
    • Metascore: 30
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Smurfs
    I deferred to the wisdom of Grouchy Smurf (George Lopez): "I didn't hate it as much as I expected to. But I still hated it."
    • Metascore: 48
    • Steve Persall 50
    One Day
    Some ideas simply work better on book pages, rather than on film where illogic is exposed.
    • Metascore: 36
    • Steve Persall 50
    Conan the Barbarian
    Conan the Barbarian has its small, insipid pleasures, if you're in the mood.
    • Metascore: 26
    • Steve Persall 50
    The Reunion
    Cena handles rough stuff like a pro, and his poker-faced wisecracking isn't bad. But he probably shouldn't quit his day job.
    • Metascore: 46
    • Steve Persall 50
    Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
    The terror of Sept. 11 feels like little more than a dramatic hook, an easy way to make audiences cry. Oskar and the event defining him deserve better.
    • Metascore: 57
    • Steve Persall 50
    Albert Nobbs
    Close's performance is technically perfect and emotionally pinched, which is exactly what her role calls for, but it doesn't make a compelling movie.
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