When Film Critics and Movie Fans Disagree

"35 Shots of Rum is visual poetry, but poetry that examines the human condition with insight and illumination."

—Steven Rea,
Philadelphia Inquirer

"I don´t mind the silence nor the simplicity of the movie. What bothers me about this movie is [Claire] Denis' total lack of imagination when it comes to depicting the strong bond between father and daughter."

—User DT

"In Sideways, Payne has created four of the most lived-in, indelible characters in recent American movies. This deliciously bittersweet movie makes magic out of the quotidian."

—David Ansen,
Newsweek

"What a letdown. The characters were so totally lacking in appeal I didn't care what happened to them. The 'wine as metaphor for life' was laid on so thick that not a single laugh escaped."

—User christianb.

"The camera is so unobtrusive and the acting so naturalistic that it takes a while for a narrative to emerge. When it finally does, you're surprised to find you're deeply invested in the characters."

—Carina Chocano,
Los Angeles Times

"In a word, Dull. Two hours of watching a frazzled mother, a quiet child and his equally quiet nanny go through their day to day. The most dramatic part of the film is when a tenant who is on screen for all of five minutes is to be evicted. A film for film students, and only them, with it's cracking of the fourth wall and subtle meta commentary."

—User DanB

"An exquisitely crafted Civil War epic that combines the epic romantic sweep of "Gone With the Wind" with a more intimate voice that speaks eloquently to the war-weary nation of today. "

—Lou Lumenick,
New York Post

"The most unbelievable, boring and uninspired love story I have seen in a long time. The fact that most of the non-American cast struggled through the entire movie with their laughable southern accents was a source of constant irritation. That, coupled with a far-fetched and silly love story between Kidman and Law, who shared not one drop of chemistry, made this the most disappointing movie of the year."

—User Stef

"The Queen is the kind of thought-provoking, well-written and savvy film that discerning filmgoers long for but rarely get."

—Claudia Puig,
USA Today

"The only reason to see this film is to watch Helen Mirren's performance. Other than that it might just as well have been made for a TV audience."

—User JohnO.

"The longer it goes on, the more you're swept up into the jet stream of good feeling. "

—Marc Mohan,
Portland Oregonian

"Some of the most authentic dysfunctional family dynamics and dialogue ever, but also some of the most overlong, pretentious, contrived scenes ever. The wedding was excruciating. Why did we need 8 or 9 different musical groups at a wedding. It was 2 movies, one that worked, and one that looked like a college music dept review."

—User John

"Gosford Park abounds in scenes to savor. It's a feast, and one of Altman's best."

—Peter Travers,
Rolling Stone

"No character is boring or soulless out of the plethora of them. However, not a single character was exciting and that's exactly what this movie lacked. Afterwards you will have a lot to ruminate on, but getting through a majority of it can be tedious."

—User GaborA.

"Moves along its course and overflows at its climax with that indefinable but unmistakable assurance of a master filmmaker who knows just what he wants to say, is in total command of his medium and is in no mood to make any compromises."

—William Arnold,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Interesting premise - poor execution. Given it does have some nice cinematography and acting from the main characters, but numerous aspects of the plot seem either irrelevant or poorly executed. The ending is about as subtle as whacking you over the head with the screenplay."

—User RobH.

"A spare, trembling lyric poem of a movie that uses stillness and facial blips the way melodramas use showdowns and action films big bangs."

—Michael Sragow,
Baltimore Sun

"This is the dullest piece of arty nothing to receive such a high rating! Yes the scenery is beautiful, the reunited friends somehow endearing, and the melancholy mood creates a soft tension. All that does not make up for the lack of plot, pacing, and dialogue."

—User JW

"A comedy poised on the knife's edge of tragedy, the film is a gutsy, truthful, deeply rooted vision of contemporary American life, scaled to the size of an ordinary man. It's a humanist triumph strip-mined of bathos and confirmation that, after directing just three features, Payne has become the most gifted comic social satirist to hit our movies since Preston Sturges."

—Manohla Dargis,
Los Angeles Times

"Not awful, but not Oscar worthy either. Nicholson was just okay. The characters were rich and the cynicism at times hilarious, but overall, the pace of the film is its fatal flaw."

—User JasonZ.