Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Formula 51
Screen Gems Inc.


7.6

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 23 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: R for strong violence, language, drug content and some sexuality

Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Carlyle, Rhys Ifans, Emily Mortimer, Meat Loaf, Ricky Tomlinson, and Nigel Whitmey

Elmo McElroy (Jackson) is an American master chemist who heads to England to set up his last big deal, the introduction of a new designer drug to the European underworld. When he hooks up with a Liverpool local (Carlyle), his plans quickly go awry in this action-packed comedy.

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Stel Pavlou
DIRECTED BY:	Ronny Yu
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: February 4, 2003 Video: February 4, 2003 Theatrical: October 18, 2002
RUNNING TIME:	92 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA / Canada / UK

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Boston Globe Ty Burr

Bloody and bloody funny, and Jackson and Carlyle make the best salt-and-pepper team since Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte knocked heads in ''48 HRS., '' but ultimately the movie can't find a way out of its own dead end.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It is possible, however improbable, that a "bad" movie can still be highly enjoyable. Formula 51 is such a film.

Film Threat Clint Morris

Sure it’s brainless fun, but Formula 51 is a trip well worth taking.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Ray Conlogue

A formula flick. And the formula is not 51 times more entertaining than usual. Maybe 1.5, at best.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold

Outrageously confident and wearing a kilt through the mayhem, Jackson proves once again that he has few equals in bringing off a broad, over-the-top lead.

USA Today Mike Clark

Anything goes, though director Ronny Yu keeps the idiocy on a fast pace.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

A messy fish-out-of-water gangland romp.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

The film should have been called ''Lock, Stock and Two Wilting Barrels.''

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Cocky, vulgar and very noisy picture.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

It's a movie that puts Samuel Jackson in kilts, Robert Carlyle in a red Jaguar, and the audience -- if they have any sense at all -- out in the lobby, looking for another picture.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

Passed as slowly as if I'd been sitting naked on an igloo, Formula 51 sank from quirky to jerky to utter turkey.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

It has graceful layers and folds and a nice swing to it, and Jackson moves superbly in it. Unfortunately, I'm talking about the kilt, not the movie.

Salon.com Jeff Stark

If explosive defecation is your idea of a laff riot, this picture -- and the Headrillaz soundtrack, by extension -- should be perfect fun.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Too often, Formula 51 fails to differentiate between gleeful excess and white noise.

Village Voice Justine Elias

Emily Mortimer and Robert Carlyle generate heat as criminal lovers, but most of the cast just engages in embarrassing scenery-gnawing.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

A fourth-rate "Pulp Fiction" with accents you can't understand.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

Only Emily Mortimer maintains a measure of dignity, playing the slinky assassin named Dakota. Whether her restraint was by her design or the filmmakers', she'll come to appreciate that she all but disappears amid the caterwauling and purging of a story that should have died in Liverpool.

San Francisco Chronicle Edward Guthmann

It isn't simple bad taste that Formula 51 deals in, but a total vacuum of feeling.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Desperately unfunny and unexciting.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Feels like it's been pasted together from 51 other movies -- none of them good.

Variety Derek Elley

There's an appalling amount of talent at waste up on the screen, starting with Jackson and Carlyle whose tall/short, silent/motormouth double act never clicks.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

This tired action comedy is the usual weave of over-the-top violence and cross-cultural shtick.

LA Weekly John Patterson

A waste of the filmmakers' time and ours, and offering further evidence that, outside the art house, much British cinema has its head jammed tightly up its own arse.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A muddled mess of bad-lad clichés, and Jackson's obvious talents only serve to point out how godawful everyone else seems to be.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

A witless, gruesome barrage of jokey violence and lame trans-Atlantic humor, kept moving by the pointless, derivative kineticism of Mr. Yu's hyperactive cuts and splices.

Portland Oregonian Marc Mohan

As sometimes occurs in unsupervised experiments, the result proves foul-smelling and potentially toxic.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Stars Samuel L. Jackson in the worst role of his career -- one hopes.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

An execrable mess that leaves no genre cliché unturned or human body or soul untrammeled.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Not a second of it is believable; not a tenth of a second of it is refreshing; not a millionth of a second is worthwhile

The average user rating for this movie is 7.6 (out of 10) based on 23 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Josh gave it an8:
A surprise hit for me, with some good funny moments.

Dana S. gave it an8:
Funny and very clever.

Alex F. gave it a10:
Formula 51 is an amazing movie. I think the diorector was right to pick Samuel L. Jackson to cast as Elmo McElroy.He is the greatest actor of all time.

Nel gave it a10:
Very funny movie. Good soundtrack rave dance.

Michael B. gave it an8:
Meat Loaf was the only upset of this movie. He should stick to singing.

North Freedom Fighter gave it a7:
Critics looked too far into this flick. If they watched with no expectations and an open mind they'd see that the flick is meant to be a cheesy good time, which it is in full. I had a great time watching it and you likely will too if you enjoyed such flicks as Trainspotting or any other dope movie.

Matori B. gave it a 10:
Amazing movie. Funny movie. Amazing rave scene. Beautiful. 10/10

Formula 51 Screen Gems Inc.

Formula 51
Screen Gems Inc.