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“ The Score ” is an ambitious effort, a movie that is both a tense crime drama and a musical. Skillful attention has been paid to both elements by writer/director Malachi Smyth and a strong cast. But these elements are never integrated enough to become organic, and never come together to create a satisfying whole. 

For the second time this year, Johnny Flynn plays a hoodlum with an impulsive sidekick in a twisty crime story almost completely in one location. But “The Outfit” was intricately plotted and directed with propulsive dynamism, possibly in part because it was not interrupted by singing monologues. In “The Score,” Flynn, who also wrote the movie’s songs, plays Mikey, who is planning a deal with some powerful new gangsters for the first time. “Up to now, we’ve been nobodies,” he tells Troy. “I’ve been the nobodies’ gofer,” Troy responds. But we see that there is more to Troy than Mikey notices, not because he brags about the one good grade he got in English or because he can do the math on the returns they should get from the new partners, but because of the way he muses about the many meanings of the word “score.”   

Driving with him to the meeting place is Troy ( Will Poulter ), the younger brother of Mikey’s long-time partner Derek, who is no longer available because he is in prison. Half of the 20,000 pounds in their bag would have been Derek’s, but is now Troy’s. As they drive, Mikey expresses concern about Troy’s ability to participate in a deal of this level, denigrating his intelligence, especially after Troy gets into a fistfight with two men at a gas station because he thinks they might want to attack him.

Troy wonders how Mikey knows he can trust these new partners. “They’re professionals,” Mikey assures him. But Troy becomes more concerned after they get to the meeting place, a little café. A handful of customers come and go, but none of them are the ones they are waiting for. 

This gives Troy a chance to spend time with the café’s only employee, a waitress/cashier named Gloria ( Naomi Ackie , soon to star in a Whitney Houston biopic). There is an immediate connection between them. 

Poulter and Ackie have great chemistry and bring many layers to their performances. And there are some smart ideas behind this film. It has echoes of Waiting for Godot  and “ In Bruges ” as the two men, one a bit cleverer, or at least he thinks so, wait for something that may be dangerous. 

The difference in tone between the constricted indoors and the lush, boundaryless outdoors is well-handled, with Troy and Gloria able to connect, laugh, and dream. Stay through the credits to see more of them goofing around on a rowboat. And the music is not what you might expect. It does not move the story along as we are used to in musicals. The songs are more like interior monologues about uncertainty and yearning. The lyrics have little to do with what is going on; indeed, they have a distinctly folkloric, timeless quality, using words like “I’m burning for thee” and with references like John Barleycorn. The script and the lyrics reflect a love of language, from the discussion of the many meanings of “score” to Troy’s unexpected wit. He is quick in a fight, whether verbal or physical and there are sharp exchanges between Troy and Gloria that show us how quickly they can discern that they are going to be special to each other. There is an encounter with a photographer who wants to take a picture, asking, “May I make art out of great and tragic beauty?” He says he can make them immortal, eternally youthful, but Troy and Gloria know he cannot change their reality. The question is whether they can.

Some of the twists do not pay off as well as the movie wants them to, and the songs weigh down the story more than they add to it. But while Smyth does not succeed, in the photographer character’s words, by making art out of great and tragic beauty, "The Score" does leave me interested in seeing what he will do next.

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Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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Film credits.

The Score (2022)

100 minutes

Will Poulter as Troy

Naomi Ackie as Gloria

Johnny Flynn as Mike

Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Frank

Lydia Wilson

• Malachi Smyth

Cinematographer

• Darran Bragg
• Sadaf Nazari

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The Score Review: Johnny Flynn and Will Poulter Lead a Heist Film with a Musical Twist

As Troy (Will Poulter) muses on the car ride out-of-town to meet with “professional criminals” (he and Johnny Flynn’s Mike realize they’re amateurs at best, still trying to move their way up) and exchange 20 grand for unspecified goods, “score” is one of those words with multiple meanings. Film score. Settling scores. Scoring on the soccer field. Scoring in bed. While it’s as much a monologue to explain writer-director Malachi Smyth’s decision to title his film The Score as it is the set-up to an as yet-to-arrive punchline during the denouement, the real reason for its existence is to let audiences in on the central dynamic. Where Mike is all business, Troy cannot help himself from living life no matter the stakes, consequences, or his companion’s annoyance.

The reason is simple: Troy is only adding “criminal” to his “amateur” title because his brother Derek forced his hand. Derek is the one who helped Mike secure that cash and Derek’s the one who ended up in jail before they could do anything with it. Responsibility thus falls upon Troy’s shoulders—as someone his brother trusts to do right by him, and as the only other person who knows the money’s hiding place. As soon as Mike knows the cash is in-hand, he’s unafraid to let the young pugilist know as much. Frustration doesn’t, however, excuse the fact that he needs back-up and Troy is good in a pinch—if a bit quick to fall prey to impulse where thoughtful problem-solving is needed.

If that sounds like yet another odd couple case of a cruel pragmatist reliant upon certainty opposite a sweet liability on the Asperger’s spectrum, you’d be correct. And you’d be forgiven for rolling your eyes and letting out a sigh for the death of originality during the opening 10-to-15 minutes too. Thankfully, Smyth isn’t utilizing this recently well-worn gimmick as the point of his film. It’s merely a way to differentiate Troy from Mike insofar as “good” and “bad” goes. Yes, it’s a clumsy way of doing so and makes it seem like a genuinely earnest soul cannot exist in a “man’s” body without some sort of quirk, but it does the job and is more or less left alone after we meet Gloria (Naomi Ackie).

She’s the waitress at the diner where Mike was told to meet his sellers; Troy becomes instantly enamored. Though Mike tries corralling his accomplice into sitting silently while they wait—a fool’s errand: the latter is a magnet for calling a wealth of unneeded attention to them—Troy is easily distracted and, frankly, not as invested in this exchange as Derek would have been. In fact, he’s starting to question the logistics of the whole thing once details start to confuse and contradict themselves. He trusts Mike, though. He doesn’t much like the way he’s being treated and knows he’s only there as a last option, but they grew up together. They’re like family. And if playing bodyguard provides time with Gloria, it’s worth it.

It is to us, too, considering the criminal aspect is less about plot than it is a device to introduce romance. This meet is the reason Troy and Gloria cross paths, but what they do with that fateful collision is why we keep watching. It would be impossible not to—Poulter and Ackie are so cute together with their acerbic flirtations. Both are idealists, in a way, even if his belief that you can simply take what you want has never been her experience. The money has allowed Troy an optimism that Gloria’s current personal drama has all but squandered. Their interaction melts those worries and hopes away; nothing else matters in the moment. As is often the case, however, the past and future complicate things.

I’ve yet to mention The Score is also a musical. Flynn wrote all the songs, the cast singing each well—beyond the odd moment of soaring vocal emotion being met with a subdued performance to confirm they’re lip-synching pre-recorded studio renditions—but I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily a defining attribute of the whole. The music flows seamlessly in and out to get characters’ thoughts and feelings into the open, much as an interior monologue might. It does help our investment by drawing us in, but I think I was “in” anyway. Think of the songs as augmentation rather than substantive. They get us in the mindset of fantasy versus reality and the underlying theme of love versus money. Which matters most?

Mike would obviously say money. Troy might have too before meeting Gloria, but more as a means of moving on than staying put. While Mike needs that cash to sustain what he already has, Troy sees it as potential for escape. Both ultimately target the abstract notion of “a better life,” but their motivation is vastly different. The former sees only obligation. Mike’s jaded to the point of selling his soul for an amount that our millionaire politicians can’t fathom is life-changing enough to ever pass meaningful financial or economic reform. Troy is a dreamer. A lover. He sees that money as the seed for boundless potential because he’s yet to forsake hope. And Gloria sees it as a price all its own—a promise of darkness.

She’s not wrong, either. Smyth wrote an infectious romance as our entry point into this world, but he never pretends the overall sentiment isn’t tragedy. I love when Troy tells Gloria that they can run away together and she laughs, saying “You might be a bit dumb, but you are sweet.” He counters by revealing they can run away with $10,000; her smile fades. “You’d be a bit smarter, but also probably less sweet.” It’s such a small moment that speaks volumes about the message that money is only as good as how it was earned and those who are spending it. That cash is salvation and demise. The scales always balance. If Troy is fast, he still can’t outrun destiny.

There’s a twist along the way, too, but Smyth is smart enough to know twists are only as good as their purpose and not their surprise. This one excels because it makes sense. For being revealed around the halfway point it also allows a deeper dive into the characters involved so it won’t simply live or die on the filmmaker’s self-satisfaction. Its betrayal has the complexity to ensure it also harbors regret; we can wonder if it’ll still happen by the end. Regardless, it never overshadows the love story. It may even strengthen it, solidifying the bond Troy and Gloria share as more than a lustful day of fancy. It’s brief, but real.

The Score hits limited release June 3 and VOD June 10.

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‘The Score’ Review: Songs in the Key of Heist

The singer-songwriter Johnny Flynn stars alongside Will Poulter and Naomi Ackie in an understated musical about two small-time crooks and a budding romance.

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By Amy Nicholson

The title of this small-scale existentialist musical from the writer-director Malachi Smyth refers to the bag of cash two shabby crooks have driven to a sleepy stretch of England. It is also a nod to the fact that the day’s misadventures will be partly told in song.

Mike (Johnny Flynn), the leader of this criminal duo, and Troy (Will Poulter), the slap-happy muscle, are irritated to be stuck in a middle-of-nowhere cafe waiting for a dodgy exchange that could get violent. The squabbling pair aren’t in harmony about anything, though they do share a tendency to express themselves in baleful, restless tunes with hyper-literate lyrics. “I’m an idea of magnitude giving birth to itself ad infinitum,” Poulter warbles to the diner’s prickly waitress, Gloria (Naomi Ackie). She may or may not hear him, even as she adds her own layer of song to vent her frustration at being stuck serving coffee to a string of oddball customers, wishing she was anywhere else.

Troy and Gloria must sing about their instant attraction, otherwise their fledgling love story would barely register. But glossy ballads, these aren’t. The songs are penned by Flynn who, when not acting, has released several albums of craggy, cerebral folk. (His latest, “Lost in the Cedar Wood,” a collaboration with the British writer Robert Macfarlane, took inspiration from “The Epic of Gilgamesh.”) The movie’s music has a pleasantly crumpled feel. It is lip-synced casually, as though the characters are bashful about belting their innermost thoughts. The songs can seem to operate on their own plane: When Flynn croons through a window, it’s almost surprising to see his breath mist the glass.

The film is besotted by its own cleverness. The overwrought dialogue clashes with the rest of the movie’s naturalism. But Smyth’s very point is that ordinary folk have the right to strive for poetry — and his shaggy sincerity wins out in the end. With this promising ditty as his debut feature, the filmmaker introduces himself as a voice to be heard.

The Score Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. In theaters.

The Score Review

28 Sep 2001

123 minutes

So, we have a craggy safe-cracker, world-weary and set on retirement, in that Robert De Niro manner. As played by Robert De Niro. Then we have his rookie understudy, a shifty whatsit who riffs on an imbecile scam, you know, in that Edward Norton style. He's played by Edward Norton. Then we get a camp, bloated old fence, a wacky cameo-type role in classic Marlon Brando tradition. Played by Marlon Brando. All in a chic, atmospheric heist plot that is pure Michael Mann. And the film is directed by Yoda?

To be fair, Frank Oz (who voiced the pea-green Jedi) does a sturdy job in creating an edgy, slowburn 70s mood for his thriller. It's just that everything feels like it's going through the motions.

The Score is screamingly competent and completely uninspired.

De Niro is simply strolling through another inbetween role, requiring him to do no more than bristle and scowl. As ever with Brando, it's never entirely clear what he's up to – you get the impression this flagging dandy routine was designed purely to piss off his director. It's great to see him sharing the screen with De Niro (first time ever!), but the loose, impro-mood dialogue fires no sparks. Norton, at least, adds some gusto, mixing up a goofy schtick with the edgy upstart to produce the meatiest character on show.

In its defence, the film is a damn sight better than most of the creatively moribund, brainless blockbusters reeled off over the summer. The lengthy heist sequence that dominates the final third boasts some cool reworkings of the classic safe-cracking routines.

Indeed, there is a grubby realism to all the criminal activity here, instilled by an on-set ex-con who subsequently went down in an FBI sting. Yet, as the closing credits slip onto the screen, there's sense of deflation, that surely some further dimension is still to reveal itself. And there is but one conclusion to be made from this triple-decker of pan-generational heroes – is that it?

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Movies | 21 11 2002

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Common sense media reviewers.

Uneven musical drama has strong language, fighting.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Being brave means having courage to stand up for y

Troy changes for the better when he meets Gloria.

Main cast includes two characters of color; the re

Fights, including with a knife and gun. A characte

Kissing, suggestive/pejorative slang like "pity f-

Language includes "s--t," "f--k," "hell," and word

A scene with a character smoking a cigarette.

Parents need to know that The Score is a British romantic and dramatic thriller/musical about a man (Will Poulter) who decides against following through with a heist once he falls in love with a waitress (Naomi Ackie). Expect a few fight scenes (including with a knife and gun), strong language ("s--t," "f--k,…

Positive Messages

Being brave means having courage to stand up for yourself and others. Having courage to live a better life is a daring but necessary choice.

Positive Role Models

Troy changes for the better when he meets Gloria. Even though he was going along with a criminal plot with his partner-in-crime, Mike, Troy realizes that he can be a better man and live a more meaningful life. Gloria brings out the best in him, inspires him to take a different path.

Diverse Representations

Main cast includes two characters of color; the rest are White. Gloria (Naomi Ackie) is the only woman of color. Her character is meaningful but also falls into the cliché in which women serve to deepen a male character's storyline.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

Fights, including with a knife and gun. A character makes a threat in one scene.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Kissing, suggestive/pejorative slang like "pity f--k." Mention of sex.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "s--t," "f--k," "hell," and words that could be ableist such as "crazy," "stupid," and "deaf" (e.g., "Are you deaf?"). Exclamatory use of "Christ."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Score is a British romantic and dramatic thriller/musical about a man ( Will Poulter ) who decides against following through with a heist once he falls in love with a waitress ( Naomi Ackie ). Expect a few fight scenes (including with a knife and gun), strong language ("s--t," "f--k," etc.), kissing, and a bit of crude sexual language. There's also a scene with cigarette smoking. Themes tie into the idea that having the courage to live a better life is a daring but necessary choice. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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What's the Story?

THE SCORE is a genre mash-up of musical and crime thriller. The film focuses on Troy ( Will Poulter ), a man who's meant to take part in a heist with his partner, Mike ( Johnny Flynn ). But Troy decides against taking a criminal path when he meets waitress Gloria ( Naomi Ackie ). Troy's journey then sets him in opposition to Mike on a path less traveled.

Is It Any Good?

This movie is an interesting watch if you like films that play with genre, since it combines musical moments with drama and thriller elements. But while this mix can certainly be done smartly -- e.g., in Bollywood's use of musical numbers in thrillers, dramas, and other traditionally nonmusical genres, as well as in American musicals like West Side Story and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street -- The Score feels clunky and more focused on its romantic beats than on fleshing out its hard dramatic ones.

The film's biggest feat is showcasing Ackie's singing talent. Hearing her vocal ability makes you wonder when she'll be cast in a musical that can really capitalize on her talent. She's definitely the standout in The Score , lifting up the songs that could be boring otherwise.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about courage . How does Troy show courage in his relationship and in life?

How does Troy change once he meets Gloria? Do you consider either or both of them role models ?

How does Gloria represent people of color in The Score ? How well does the film as a whole include diverse representation ?

How does the musical aspect of the film help or hinder the story?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 3, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : June 10, 2022
• Cast : Will Poulter , Johnny Flynn , Naomi Ackie
• Director : Malachi Smyth
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Gravitas Ventures
• Genre : Romance
• Character Strengths : Courage
• Run time : 100 minutes
• MPAA rating : NR
• Last updated : July 5, 2024

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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Score, The (United States, 2001)

Many years ago, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the motion picture industry practically ran on star power. These days, in large part because of skyrocketing salaries, it's unusual to find more than one high-profile performer in any given motion picture. The Score , however, boasts three of them - aging icon Marlon Brando, Scorsese favorite Robert De Niro, and the up-and-coming Edward Norton. Admittedly, this sounds like an unbeatable combination to fashion a top-notch caper flick, but, like 1998's disappointing Twilight , The Score proves that a cast with high-wattage names isn't enough. The script needs to be on par with the acting talent, and, at least in this case, it isn't. The Score is let down by the screenwriters.

As heist movies go, this one is on the low side of mediocre. For most of the running length, it's acceptable - in fact, some of the scenes detailing the preparation and execution of the crime are engaging - but there are two twists near the end that are dumb and unnecessary. Screenwriters Kario Salem, Lem Dobbs, and Scott Marshall Smith fail to understand the meaning of the cliché "less is more." The Score doesn't need the character-assassinating, logic-defying contortions that mar its final ten minutes; it would have been a more satisfying experience had it not turned the climax into an unpredictable mess.

Nick Wells (De Niro) is a master burglar who has made a comfortable living doing jobs for others. Now, as he's contemplating retirement to run his beloved jazz club in Montreal, he is offered one last opportunity by his old friend, Max Baron (Brando). A priceless artifact - a 17th century scepter made for a girl queen - is being held in the basement of the Montreal Customs House. It is kept in a secure place - inside a safe and surrounded by all sorts of electronic anti-theft equipment. But Max is convinced that Nick can commit the robbery with the aid of Jackie Teller (Edward Norton), Max's "man on the inside." Nick, smelling trouble, initially declines, but the lure of "a very big payoff for very acceptable risks" eventually lures him into a partnership with Jackie. Together, the two of them begin planning a huge score.

I don't understand how Marlon Brando still finds work. His days of wine and roses are long past; he hasn't given a memorable performance since Nixon was in the White House, and he looks more like Jabba the Hutt than the well-chiseled actor who stunned audiences in On the Waterfront . He's a self-parody; a once-great actor who has lost the desire to act and works only for obscene amounts of money. Like a badly out of tune piano, every note he strikes is sour. Plus, there's the colossal ego to contend with - an ego that caused him to refuse to be on the set at the same time as director Frank Oz, a situation that the studio euphemistically stated to be the result of "creative differences." The product is an awkward, unpolished performance. Fortunately, Brando is only in handful of scenes.

For De Niro and Norton, this is just another paycheck. The Score is not an actors' movie; it is plot-driven. De Niro, Norton, and Brando are all there because of their names, not because they have anything of substance to contribute. As Nick, the aging crook who wants to go straight, De Niro is traversing a well-trodden path. Likewise, Norton could do the role of Jackie in his sleep. Both actors are fine, but there's nothing here to challenge either of them. Meanwhile, poor Angela Bassett has the dubious distinction of holding down the paper-thin part of Nick's girlfriend - the woman for whom he's willing to give up his life of crime.

Director Frank Oz, better known for helming lighter films (like 1986's Little Shop of Horrors ), seems a little out of his depth here, although that could have something to do with the on-set friction. The film occasionally develops tension (mainly during the heist sequences), but it is unable to sustain it. And, on one occasion, Oz works hard to generate some artificial suspense by including a superfluous scene where Norton buys computer access codes from a couple of hackers.

It's worth noting that, with a less prestigious cast, The Score would have been a strong candidate for direct-to-video or direct-to-cable distribution. Based on the script alone, this is not a theatrical quality motion picture. It's weak even when compared to recent caper movies like the cynical, ultra-violent Snatch or the gentle, comedic Where the Money Is . The Score is not a complete bore - the involvement of these actors guarantees that (after all, it is a momentous occasion to finally have the two Vito Corleones on screen together) - but it has to be classified as a disappointment. From the trio of Brando, De Niro, and Norton, one expects something more inspired and less workmanlike than what The Score is able to offer.

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Rotten Tomatoes, explained

Does a movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score affect its box office returns? And six other questions, answered.

by Alissa Wilkinson

In February 2016, Rotten Tomatoes — the site that aggregates movie and TV critics’ opinions and tabulates a score that’s “fresh” or “rotten” — took on an elevated level of importance. That’s when Rotten Tomatoes (along with its parent company Flixster) was acquired by Fandango , the website that sells advance movie tickets for many major cinema chains.

People had been using Rotten Tomatoes to find movie reviews since it launched in 2000, but after Fandango acquired the site, it began posting “Tomatometer” scores next to movie ticket listings. Since then, studio execs have started to feel as if Rotten Tomatoes matters more than it used to — and in some cases, they’ve rejiggered their marketing strategies accordingly.

It’s easy to see why anyone might assume that Rotten Tomatoes scores became more tightly linked to ticket sales, with potential audiences more likely to buy tickets for a movie with a higher score, and by extension, giving critics more power over the purchase of a ticket.

But that’s not the whole story. And as most movie critics (including myself) will tell you, the correlation between Rotten Tomatoes scores, critical opinion, marketing tactics, and actual box office returns is complicated. It’s not a simple cause-and-effect situation.

My own work is included in both Rotten Tomatoes’ score and that of its more exclusive cousin, Metacritic . So I, along with many other critics , think often of the upsides and pitfalls of aggregating critical opinion and its effect on which movies people see. But for the casual moviegoer, how review aggregators work, what they measure, and how they affect ticket sales can be mysterious.

So when I got curious about how people perceive Rotten Tomatoes and its effect on ticket sales, I did what any self-respecting film critic does: I informally polled my Twitter followers to see what they wanted to know.

Here are seven questions that many people have about Rotten Tomatoes, and review aggregation more generally — and some facts to clear up the confusion.

How is a Rotten Tomatoes score calculated?

The score that Rotten Tomatoes assigns to a film corresponds to the percentage of critics who’ve judged the film to be “fresh,” meaning their opinion of it is more positive than negative. The idea is to quickly offer moviegoers a sense of critical consensus.

“Our goal is to serve fans by giving them useful tools and one-stop access to critic reviews, user ratings, and entertainment news to help with their entertainment viewing decisions,” Jeff Voris, a vice president at Rotten Tomatoes, told me in an email.

The opinions of about 3,000 critics — a.k.a. the “Approved Tomatometer Critics” who have met a series of criteria set by Rotten Tomatoes — are included in the site’s scores, though not every critic reviews every film, so any given score is more typically derived from a few hundred critics, or even less. The scores don’t include just anyone who calls themselves a critic or has a movie blog; Rotten Tomatoes only aggregates critics who have been regularly publishing movie reviews with a reasonably widely read outlet for at least two years, and those critics must be “active,” meaning they've published at least one review in the last year. The site also deems a subset of critics to be “top critics” and calculates a separate score that only includes them.

Some critics (or staffers at their publications) upload their own reviews, choose their own pull quotes, and designate their review as “fresh” or “rotten.” Other critics (including myself) have their reviews uploaded, pull-quoted, and tagged as fresh or rotten by the Rotten Tomatoes staff. In the second case, if the staff isn't sure whether to tag a review as fresh or rotten, they reach out to the critic for clarification. And critics who don't agree with the site’s designation can request that it be changed.

As the reviews of a given film accumulate, the Rotten Tomatoes score measures the percentage that are more positive than negative, and assigns an overall fresh or rotten rating to the movie. Scores of over 60 percent are considered fresh, and scores of 59 percent and under are rotten. To earn the coveted “designated fresh” seal, a film needs at least 40 reviews, 75 percent of which are fresh, and five of which are from “top” critics.

What does a Rotten Tomatoes score really mean ?

A Rotten Tomatoes score represents the percentage of critics who felt mildly to wildly positively about a given film.

If I give a film a mixed review that’s generally positive (which, in Vox’s rating system, could range from a positive-skewing 3 to the rare totally enamored 5), that review receives the same weight as an all-out rave from another critic. (When I give a movie a 2.5, I consider that to be a neutral score; by Rotten Tomatoes' reckoning, it's rotten.) Theoretically, a 100 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating could be made up entirely of middling-to-positive reviews. And if half of the critics the site aggregates only sort of like a movie, and the other half sort of dislike it, the film will hover around 50 percent (which is considered “rotten” by the site).

Contrary to some people’s perceptions, Rotten Tomatoes itself maintains no opinion about a film. What Rotten Tomatoes tries to gauge is critical consensus.

• Why people are freaking out over Wonder Woman’s stellar Rotten Tomatoes score

Critics’ opinions do tend to cluster on most films. But there are always outliers, whether from contrarians (who sometimes seem to figure out what people will say and then take the opposite opinion), or from those who seem to love every film. And critics, like everyone, have various life experiences, aesthetic preferences, and points of view that lead them to have differing opinions on movies.

So in many (if not most) cases, a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score may not correspond to any one critic’s view. It’s more like an imprecise estimate of what would happen if you mashed together every Tomatometer critic and had the resulting super-critic flash a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.

Rotten Tomatoes also lets audiences rate movies, and the score is often out of step with the critical score. Sometimes, the difference is extremely significant, a fact that's noticeable because the site lists the two scores side by side.

There’s a straightforward reason the two rarely match, though: The critical score is more controlled and methodical.

Why? Most professional critics have to see and review many films, whether or not they’re inclined to like the movie. (Also, most critics don’t pay to see films, because studios hold special early screenings for them ahead of the release date, which removes the decision of whether they’re interested enough in a film to spend their hard-earned money on seeing it.)

But with Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score, the situation is different. Anyone on the internet can contribute — not just those who actually saw the film. As a result, a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score can be gamed by internet trolls seeking to sink it simply because they find its concept offensive. A concerted effort can drive down the film’s audiencescore before it even comes out, as was the case with the all-female reboot of Ghostbusters .

Even if Rotten Tomatoes required people to pass a quiz on the movie before they rated it, the score would still be somewhat unreliable. Why? Because ordinary audiences are more inclined to buy tickets to movies they’re predisposed to like — who wants to spend $12 to $20 on a film they’re pretty sure they’ll hate?

So audience scores at Rotten Tomatoes (and other audience-driven scores, like the ones at IMDb) naturally skew very positive, or sometimes very negative if there’s any sort of smear campaign in play. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. But audience scores tend to not account for those who would never buy a ticket to the movie in the first place.

In contrast, since critics see lots of movies — some of which they would have gone to see anyhow, and some of which they would’ve never chosen to see if their editors didn’t make the assignment — their opinion distribution should theoretically be more even, and thus the critical Rotten Tomatoes score more “accurate.”

Or at least that’s what Rotten Tomatoes thinks. The site displays a movie’s critics’ scores — the official Tomatometer — at Fandango and in a more prominent spot on the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes landing page. The audience score is also displayed on the Rotten Tomatoes page, but it’s not factored into the film’s fresh or rotten rating, and doesn’t contribute to a film being labeled as “certified fresh.”

Why do critics often get frustrated by the Tomatometer?

The biggest reason many critics find Rotten Tomatoes frustrating is that most people’s opinions about movies can’t be boiled down to a simple thumbs up or down. And most critics feel that Rotten Tomatoes, in particular, oversimplifies criticism, to the detriment of critics, the audience, and the movies themselves.

In some cases, a film really is almost universally considered to be excellent, or to be a complete catastrophe. But critics usually come away from a movie with a mixed view. Some things work, and others don’t. The actors are great, but the screenplay is lacking. The filmmaking is subpar, but the story is imaginative. Some critics use a four- or five-star rating, sometimes with half-stars included, to help quantify mixed opinions as mostly negative or mostly positive.

The important point here is that no critic who takes their job seriously is going to have a simple yes-or-no system for most movies. Critics watch a film, think about it, and write a review that doesn't just judge the movie but analyzes, contextualizes, and ruminates over it. The fear among many critics (including myself) is that people who rely largely on Rotten Tomatoes aren't interested in the nuances of a film, and aren't particularly interested in reading criticism, either.

But maybe the bigger reason critics are worried about the influence of review aggregators is that they seem to imply there's a “right” way to evaluate a movie, based on most people's opinions. We worry that audience members who have different reactions will feel as if their opinion is somehow wrong, rather than seeing the diversity of opinions as an invitation to read and understand how and why people react to art differently.

Plenty of movies — from Psycho to Fight Club to Alien — would have earned a rotten rating from Rotten Tomatoes upon their original release, only to be reconsidered and deemed classics years later as tastes, preferences, and ideas about films changed. Sometimes being an outlier can just mean you're forward-thinking.

Voris, the Rotten Tomatoes vice president, told me that the site is always trying to grapple with this quandary. “The Rotten Tomatoes curation team is constantly adding and updating reviews for films — both past and present,” he told me. “If there’s a review available from an approved critic or outlet, it will be added.”

What critics are worried about is a tendency toward groupthink, and toward scapegoating people who deviate from the “accepted” analysis. You can easily see this in the hordes of fans that sometimes come after a critic who dares to “ruin” a film's perfect score . But critics (at least serious ones) don't write their reviews to fit the Tomatometer, nor are they out to “get” DC Comics movies or religious movies or political movies or any other movies. Critics love movies and want them to be good, and we try to be honest when we see one that we don't measures up.

That doesn't mean the audience can't like a movie with a rotten rating, or hate a movie with a fresh rating. It's no insult to critics when audience opinion diverges. In fact, it makes talking and thinking about movies more interesting.

If critics are ambivalent about Rotten Tomatoes scores, why do moviegoers use the scores to decide whether to see a movie?

Mainly, it’s easy. You’re buying movie tickets on Fandango, or you’re trying to figure out what to watch on Netflix, so you check the Rotten Tomatoes score to decide. It’s simple. That’s the point.

And that’s not a bad thing. It's helpful to get a quick sense of critical consensus, even if it's somewhat imprecise. Many people use Rotten Tomatoes to get a rough idea of whether critics generally liked a film.

The flip side, though, is that some people, whether they’re critics or audience members, will inevitably have opinions that don't track with the Rotten Tomatoes score at all. Just because an individual's opinion is out of step with the Tomatometer doesn't mean the person is “wrong” — it just means they're an outlier.

And that, frankly, is what makes art, entertainment, and the world at large interesting: Not everyone has the same opinion about everything, because people are not exact replicas of one another. Most critics love arguing about movies, because they often find that disagreeing with their colleagues is what makes their job fun. It's fine to disagree with others about a movie, and it doesn't mean you're “wrong.”

(For what it’s worth, another review aggregation site, Metacritic, maintains an even smaller and more exclusive group of critics than Rotten Tomatoes — its aggregated scores cap out around 50 reviews per movie, instead of the hundreds that can make up a Tomatometer score. Metacritic’s score for a film is different from Rotten Tomatoes’ insofar as each individual review is assigned a rating on a scale of 100 and the overall Metacritic score is a weighted average, the mechanics of which Metacritic absolutely refuses to divulge . But because the site’s ratings are even more carefully controlled to include only experienced professional critics — and because the reviews it aggregates are given a higher level of granularity, and presumably weighted by the perceived influence of the critic’s publication — most critics consider Metacritic a better gauge of critical opinion.)

Does a movie’s Rotten Tomatoes score affect its box office earnings?

The short version: It can, but not necessarily in the ways you might think.

A good Rotten Tomatoes score indicates strong critical consensus, and that can be good for smaller films in particular. It’s common for distributors to roll out such films slowly, opening them in a few key cities (usually New York and Los Angeles, and maybe a few others) to generate good buzz — not just from critics, but also on social media and through word of mouth. The result, they hope, is increased interest and ticket sales when the movie opens in other cities.

Get Out , for example, certainly profited from the 99 percent “fresh” score it earned since its limited opening. And the more recent The Big Sick became one of last summer's most beloved films, helped along by its 98 percent rating. But a bad score for a small film can help ensure that it will close quickly, or play in fewer cities overall. Its potential box office earnings, in turn, will inevitably take a hit.

Yet when it comes to blockbusters, franchises, and other big studio films (which usually open in many cities at once), it’s much less clear how much a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score affects its box office tally. A good Rotten Tomatoes score, for example, doesn't necessarily guarantee a film will be a hit. Atomic Blonde is “guaranteed fresh,” with a 77 percent rating, but it didn‘t do very well at the box office despite being an action film starring Charlize Theron.

Still, studios certainly seem to believe the score makes a difference . Last summer, studios blamed Rotten Tomatoes scores (and by extension, critics) when poorly reviewed movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales , Baywatch , and The Mummy performed below expectations at the box office. ( Pirates still went on to be the year’s 19th highest-grossing film.)

2017’s highest grossing movies in the US

But that correlation doesn’t really hold up. The Emoji Movie , for example, was critically panned, garnering an abysmal 6 percent Rotten Tomatoes score. But it still opened to $25 million in the US, which put it just behind the acclaimed Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk . And the more you think about it, the less surprising it is that plenty of people bought tickets to The Emoji Movie in spite of its bad press: It's an animated movie aimed at children that faced virtually no theatrical competition, and it opened during the summer, when kids are out of school. Great reviews might have inflated its numbers, but almost universally negative ones didn't seem to hurt it much.

It's also worth noting that many films with low Rotten Tomatoes scores that also perform poorly in the US (like The Mummy or The Great Wall ) do just fine overseas, particularly in China. The Mummy gave Tom Cruise his biggest global opening ever . If there is a Rotten Tomatoes effect, it seems to only extend to the American market.

Without any consistent proof, why do people still maintain that a bad Rotten Tomatoes score actively hurts a movie at the box office?

While it’s clear that a film’s Rotten Tomatoes score and box office earnings aren't correlated as strongly as movie studios might like you to think, blaming bad ticket sales on critics is low-hanging fruit.

Plenty of people would like you to believe that the weak link between box office earnings and critical opinion proves that critics are at fault for not liking the film, and that audiences are a better gauge of its quality. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, co-star of Baywatch , certainly took that position when reviews of the 2017 bomb Baywatch came out:

Baywatch ended up with a very comfortably rotten 19 percent Tomatometer score , compared to a just barely fresh 62 percent audience score. But with apologies to The Rock, who I’m sure is a very nice man, critics aren't weather forecasters or pundits, and they’re not particularly interested in predicting how audiences will respond to a movie. (We are also a rather reserved and nerdy bunch, not regularly armed with venom and knives.) Critics show up where they’re told to show up and watch a film, then go home and evaluate it to the best of their abilities.

The obvious rejoinder, at least from a critic’s point of view, is that if Baywatch was a better movie, there wouldn’t be such a disconnect. But somehow, I suspect that younger ticket buyers — an all-important demographic — lacked nostalgia for 25-year-old lifeguard TV show, and thus weren't so sure about seeing Baywatch in the first place. Likewise, I doubt that a majority of Americans were ever going to be terribly interested in the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (which notched a 30 percent Tomatometer score and a 64 percent audience score), especially when they could just watch some other movie.

A pile-up of raves for either of these films might have resulted in stronger sales, because people could have been surprised to learn that a film they didn’t think they were interested in was actually great. But with lackluster reviews, the average moviegoer just had no reason to give them a chance.

Big studio publicists, however, are paid to convince people to see their films, not to candidly discuss the quality of the films themselves. So when a film with bad reviews flops at the box office, it’s not shocking that studios are quick to suggest that critics killed it.

How do movie studios try to blunt the perceived impact when they’re expecting a bad Rotten Tomatoes score?

Of late, some studios — prompted by the idea that critics can kill a film’s buzz before it even comes out — have taken to “ fighting back ” when they’re expecting a rotten Tomatometer score.

Their biggest strategy isn’t super obvious to the average moviegoer, but very clear to critics. When a studio suspects it has a lemon on its hands, it typically hosts the press screening only a day or two ahead of the film's release, and then sets a review “embargo” that lifts a few hours before the film hits theaters.

Consider, for example, the case of the aforementioned Emoji Movie. I and most other critics hoped the movie would be good, as is the case with all movies see. But once the screening invitations arrived in our inboxes, we pretty much knew, with a sinking feeling, that it wouldn’t be. The tell was pretty straightforward: The film’s only critics' screening in New York was scheduled for the day before it opened. It screened for press on Wednesday night at 5 pm, and then the review embargo lifted at 3 pm the next day — mere hours before the first public showtimes.

Late critics’ screenings for any given film mean that reviews of the film will necessarily come out very close to its release, and as a result, people purchasing advance tickets might buy them before there are any reviews or Tomatometer score to speak of. Thus, in spite of there being no strong correlation between negative reviews and a low box office, its first-weekend box returns might be less susceptible to any potential harm as a result of bad press. (Such close timing can also backfire; critics liked this summer's Captain Underpants , for example, but the film was screened too late for the positive reviews to measurably boost its opening box office.)

That first-weekend number is important, because if a movie is the top performer at the box office (or if it simply exceeds expectations, like Dunkirk and Wonder Woman did this summer), its success can function as good advertising for the film, which means its second weekend sales may also be stronger. And that matters , particularly when it means a movie is outperforming its expectations, because it can actually shift the way industry executives think about what kinds of movies people want to watch. Studios do keep an eye on critics’ opinions, but they’re much more interested in ticket sales — which makes it easy to see why they don’t want risk having their opening weekend box office affected by bad reviews, whether there’s a proven correlation or not.

The downside of this strategy, however, is that it encourages critics to instinctively gauge a studio’s level of confidence in a film based on when the press screening takes place. 20th Century Fox, for instance, screened War for the Planet of the Apes weeks ahead of its theatrical release, and lifted the review embargo with plenty of time to spare before the movie came out. The implication was that Fox believed the movie would be a critical success, and indeed, it was — the movie has a 97 percent Tomatometer score and an 86 percent audience score.

And still, late press screenings fail to account for the fact that, while a low Rotten Tomatoes score doesn’t necessarily hurt a film’s total returns, aggregate review scores in general do have a distinct effect on second-weekend sales. In 2016, Metacritic conducted a study of the correlation between its scores and second weekend sales , and found — not surprisingly — that well-reviewed movies dip much less in the second weekend than poorly reviewed movies. This is particularly true of movies with a strong built-in fan base, like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , which enjoyed inflated box office returns in the first weekend because fans came out to see it, but dropped sharply in its second weekend, at least partly due to extremely negative press .

Most critics who are serious about their work make a good-faith effort to approach each film they see with as few expectations as possible. But it's hard to have much hope about a movie when it seems obvious that a studio is trying to play keep-away with it. And the more studios try to game the system by withholding their films from critics, the less critics are inclined to enter a screening devoid of expectations, however subconscious.

If you ask critics what studios ought to do to minimize the potential impact of a low Rotten Tomatoes score, their answer is simple: Make better movies. But of course, it’s not that easy; some movies with bad scores do well, while some with good scores still flop. Hiding a film from critics might artificially inflate first-weekend box office returns, but plenty of people are going to go see a franchise film, or a superhero movie, or a family movie, no matter what critics say.

The truth is that neither Rotten Tomatoes nor the critics whose evaluations make up its scores are really at fault here, and it’s silly to act like that’s the case. The website is just one piece of the sprawling and often bewildering film landscape.

As box office analyst Scott Mendelson wrote at Forbes :

[Rotten Tomatoes] is an aggregate website, one with increased power because the media now uses the fresh ranking as a catch-all for critical consensus, with said percentage score popping up when you buy tickets from Fandango or rent the title on Google Market. But it is not magic. At worst, the increased visibility of the site is being used as an excuse by ever-pickier moviegoers to stay in with Netflix or VOD.

For audience members who want to make good moviegoing decisions, the best approach is a two-pronged one. First, check Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to get a sense of critical consensus. But second, find a few critics — two or three will do — whose taste aligns with (or challenges) your own, and whose insights help you enjoy a movie even more. Read them and rely on them.

And know that it’s okay to form your own opinions, too. After all, in the bigger sense, everyone’s a critic.

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Film Gate Reviews

Movie reviews: Hollywood and Indie, specializing in independent comedies, dramas, thrillers and romance.

Friday, June 10, 2022

The score: movie review.

• Cast & crew
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• An aging thief hopes to retire and live off his ill-gotten wealth with his lover when a young kid convinces him into doing one last heist that comes with a large payout.
• Three generations of method acting giants unite for this crime thriller written by Kario Salem and directed by Frank Oz. Robert De Niro stars as Nick Wells, an aging thief whose specialty is safe-cracking and who is on the verge of retiring to a life of ease, running his jazz club and romancing his girlfriend Diane (Angela Bassett). But before he can ride off into the sunset, Nick is pressured to do one last job by his mentor and business partner, a flamboyant and extravagant upscale fence named Max (Marlon Brando). Max is plotting the heist of the Montreal Customs House, and he's got a man on the inside, Jackie Teller (Edward Norton), a talented but volatile crook who has managed to ingratiate himself with the facility's staff as a fellow employee suffering from cerebral palsy. Jackie bristles at Nick's interference in "his" score, however, and threatens violence when it seems he's going to be cut out of the action. In the meantime, Nick grows increasingly ill at ease about the operation, as it violates his two most important dictum in thievery: always work alone and never pull a job in your own city.
• Nick Wells, a professional criminal, decides to leave the business for good, since he nearly got caught on his last job. His plan is to live in peace with his girl Diane, running his Montreal jazz club. Soon afterward, Max, his good friend and financial partner, comes along with an offer Nick can't refuse: A historical and priceless French scepter has been discovered while being smuggled into the country. It is now under massive surveillance in the Montreal Customs House, and soon to be returned to France. Nick has to team up with Max's man inside, the young, talented and aggressive thief Jack Teller to get the precious item. Only one question remains: Who will trick whom out of their share? — JungleBunny
• After nearly being caught on a routine burglary, master safe-cracker Nick Wells (Robert De Niro) decides the time has finally come to retire from his illegal activities and focus on running his jazz club. Nick's flight attendant girlfriend, Diane (Angela Bassett), encourages this decision, promising to fully commit to their relationship if he does indeed go straight. Nick, however, is lured into taking one final score by his fence Max (Marlon Brando). The job, worth a $4 million pay off to Nick, is to steal a valuable French scepter, which was being smuggled illegally into the United States through Canada but was accidentally discovered and kept at the Montréal Customs House. Max introduces Nick to Jack Teller (Edward Norton), an ambitious, albeit foolhardy, thief who has infiltrated the Customs House and gained access to information regarding the security by pretending to be an intellectually disabled janitor named Brian. Nick hires his associate Steven (Jamie Harrold) to hack into the Custom House's security system to obtain the bypass codes, allowing them to temporarily manipulate the alert protocols of the system during the heist. Steven is caught, however, by a systems administrator who extorts Nick for $50,000 for the information. More complications arise when they're forced to move up their time-table after the Customs House becomes aware of the true value of the scepter and adds extra CCTV cameras to monitor it while preparing to return it to its rightful owners. Nick uses a sewer tunnel to enter the Customs House basement as Jack uses the bypass codes to rig the cameras to shut off while Nick sneaks into the storage room. One of the janitors stumbles upon Jack as he is working and realizes that he is not really Brian, but Jack locks him in a closet. Meanwhile Nick fills the enormous in-floor safe containing the scepter with water before inserting and detonating a depth charge to blow off the door. He quickly packs up the scepter in a carrying case to depart, but Jack double crosses him and at gunpoint demands he hand over the scepter. Nick reluctantly gives up the carrying case and seconds later the alarm, rigged by Jack, alerts the entire security team to the heist. Nick darts for the sewer entrance he came in as Jack heads back upstairs, tucking the carrying case inside his janitor jumpsuit and slipping past the incoming police units responding to the burglary. Nick escapes the security guards chasing him through the sewer tunnels. After making it to a bus station to flee the city, Jack calls Nick to gloat but is shocked to discover that Nick has anticipated Jack's actions. He opens the carrying case Nick gave him and discovers it contains a steel rod weighed down with bushings. Brushing off Jack's threats of vengeance, Nick advises Jack to flee as "every cop in the city" will now be looking for him. Nick hangs up and boards a boat with the real scepter as a shocked Jack broods over his situation. Later, Max smiles as he watches a news broadcast reporting a massive manhunt being organized to find Jack, the prime suspect, and an unidentified accomplice. Nick then meets Diane at the airport as she returns from work, and she happily accepts a kiss and hug from him

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"Character Counts"

What You Need To Know:

(PaPa, LLL, V, S, A, DD, MM) Pagan worldview shows that crime pays in captivating heist story that, nevertheless, makes viewers root for one criminal over another criminal; 72 mostly strong obscenities, 16 mostly strong profanities & one crude sexual reference; mild crime violence such as people hold guns on one another, man blows safe apart, thief puts hand over woman’s mouth when she discovers him opening a safe, police fire guns while chasing criminal, punching, & hitting man’s torso with a bat; implied fornication after crude sexual proposition; no nudity but couple wears calve-length bathrobes after off-screen sex; alcohol use; smoking & minor character smokes marijuana; and, stealing & movie teaches crime can pay & the ends justifies the means because the protagonist with whom viewers are meant to empathize most is a criminal who wants to do one last really big heist so he can retire & settle down with his long-time sexy girlfriend.

More Detail:

“Character driven story” is a cliché of movie criticism that can be quite tiresome; sort of like short-hand for, “I really don’t want to fully analyze all the things happening in this movie, so I’ll settle for cliché, knee-jerk phrases so that I can feel superior and people will think I know what I’m talking about, but I really don’t.” Such cliches are an occupational hazard, and can be quite embarrassing when other people take your reviews and quote them out of context. Nevertheless, sometimes cliches are really true, so what’s a person to do?

Director Frank (A MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL) Oz’s new movie for adult audiences, THE SCORE, is a “character driven” heist movie starring four of the most talented American actors in the last 50 years, Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, Angela Bassett, and Edward Norton. Regrettably, although exciting and filled with tension, it adopts the position that crime can pay, especially if you’re cautious, clever and utterly professional.

Robert DeNiro stars as Nick Wells, a safecracker living in Canada who’s ready to retire and settle down with his girlfriend, played by Angela Basset. Nick’s heavyset friend and partner in crime, Max, played by Brando, has other plans, however. He offers Nick a multi-million dollar job he can’t turn down – stealing a priceless French scepter hidden away in the basement of Montreal’s Customs House.

Max persuades Nick to violate two of his most important rules –always work alone and never operate in the city where you live. He teams Nick with Jack, played by Edward Norton, a cocky young thief who has infiltrated the Customs House by posing as a simple-minded, handicapped janitor. Personalities clash, sparks fly and secret plans emerge, but the thrill of the heist grips the three men, who won’t give up no matter what the risk.

THE SCORE effectively builds tension throughout this story. Some surprise twists end the movie on a note of emotional triumph. Furthermore, the movie builds in many humorous elements, not only in Brando’s performance, but also in the character of a computer nerd whom Nick uses to find out crucial information.

It’s the acting that seems key to everything, however. Apparently, director Frank Oz let the actors develop and embellish their roles. Though this is not always a good thing (just think of Brando’s misguided improvisations in MISSOURI BREAKS or APOCALYPSE NOW), it works almost perfectly in THE SCORE because the embellishments raise the psychological stakes when Nick, Max and Jack try to manipulate one another during the planning and execution of the heist. The fact that the improvisation works wonderfully well in THE SCORE is not only due to the actors’ efforts, but also to the efforts of the director.

It would have been much better morally, however, if THE SCORE did not ultimately teach that crime can pay. Making this immorality worse is the fact that Nick, the character with whom viewers are meant to empathize most, is a criminal who wants to do one last really big heist so he can retire and settle down with his long-time sexy girlfriend. Thus, the movie also teaches that the ends can justify the means. Of course, putting the protagonist in jail may not be the most satisfying ending to a movie like THE SCORE, but there are other ways to show that crime does not pay. For example, the movie can show the protagonist losing the stolen object in the final act, or the movie can show one of the protagonist’s friends suffering some significant hurt because of the protagonist’s illegal or immoral actions. Instead of this, THE SCORE settles for giving viewers a vicarious immoral experience where they, and the protagonist, get away with breaking the law.

THE SCORE also contains many strong obscenities and profanities and a crude sexual proposition, which is followed by a scene of an unmarried man and woman in calve-length bathrobes having some kind of breakfast. All of these things make THE SCORE a highly questionable, even though very entertaining, work. Character counts in scriptwriting, but it counts even more in life.

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10 Best Action Thrillers With High Rotten Tomatoes Scores

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Action movies, and all offshoots spawning from the genre, aren't often celebrated by critics. Mostly seen as loud vehicles for typecast actors, action films are frequently based on thin scripts that don't require much engagement from viewers. They are pieces for the enjoyment of audiences seeking turn-off-your-brain entertainment. If we add the thriller element to the action formula, then you could be in for a white-knuckle journey that'll leave you shaking .

Not to say they can't also be good movies as opposed to just thrill rides. On the contrary, and as the following list will show you, action thrillers can be terrific if well-designed. You only need a good script, a director who understands the genre's visual language, and a compelling performer who'll make you believe in the story, as absurd as it may be. Who knows, perhaps the film could end up drawing a critic's attention as well.

These are the best action thrillers with a high Rotten Tomatoes score.

10 The Town (2010)

Critics score: 92% - audience score: 85%.

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The Town follows four childhood friends from Boston's iconic neighborhood, Charleston. Doug is the leader of the gang, which also includes Jem, Gloansy, and Dez, and their current line of work unites them. They're high-profile robbers capable of stealing millions from banks.

During their latest heist, Doug becomes enthralled by one of the bank employees. He forms a relationship with Claire, breaking one of the gang's rules. At the same time, they plan the ultimate heist in Boston's iconic Fenway Park.

The 2010 film, directed and co-written by Ben Affleck, who also plays the lead, was a smashing hit with good box office results. Critics raved about it and praised Affleck's direction and performances, especially Jeremy Renner's (the MCU actor would end up being nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe) and Pete Postlethwaite's.

The high Rotten Tomatoes score follows a pattern for Ben Affleck-directed movies ; it sits alongside Argo , Gone Baby Gone , and Air above the 90% line.

9 The Killer (1989)

Critics score: 95% - audience score: 92%.

The Killer follows a hitman called Ah Jong, who decides his next hit will be his last. He has finally come to terms with whatever's left of his moral code and plans to retire. The problem is that during the hit, he accidentally injures an artist and leaves her partially blind. When the days go by, he begins to attend her performances and finds out she will need surgery to prevent complete blindness. Ah Jong steps up and accepts a major hit to pay for his victim's procedure.

John Woo's exceptional 1989 action thriller is one of the best movies ever produced in Hong Kong. The Killer is very violent, but it's also very well-executed by a director who understands the genre like no other.

It wasn't exactly successful in this country, but with time, its cult status grew beyond expectations, with Hollywood filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez saying it's one of the best action movies ever made. Its rating on Rotten Tomatoes was always above the usual, with film critics praising Woo's trademark of over-the-top action.

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While many action movies rely on adrenaline over substance, there are also movies that deliver both heart-pumping action and a truly solid narrative.

8 Skyfall (2012)

Critics score: 92% - audience score: 86%.

Skyfall sees Agent 007, aka James Bond, forced to come back to work after he's presumed dead, an opportunity he had used to retire. In the film, MI6 and the world are being threatened by a mastermind with enough technology to attack the world through hacking and data leaks. Silva, the villain, is actually after M and is planning to kill her because of a past event in which the nefarious genius was disfigured after a botched suicide attempt.

The film was groundbreaking in the Bond series. It saw the return of characters like Q and Moneypenny, and it was the first film to be directed by Sam Mendes, who made sure to imprint the movie with his singular visual style.

The result was the franchise's most successful film ; it made over $1 billion at the box office and was critically acclaimed upon release. At the Academy Awards, the title was mentioned five times in the ballots, and it took home two of the awards that night. It features a more "sober" version of the iconic spy, which is something that can't be said for many of the Bond movies.

7 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Critics score: 97% - audience score: 86%.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Mad Max: Fury Road takes viewers to an undisclosed wasteland in the future. The planet is a dry desert where fuel is gold and water is still life. Max Rockatansky is a scavenger who's captured by Immortan Joe's minions, and he's eventually set to die. The problem is there's an uprising, and Max becomes part of the rebel gang that decides enough is enough and tries to fight against Joe's unconventional ways to breed and dominate whatever's left of humankind.

The no-punches-pulled action thriller that brought back the Mad Max franchise in 2015 is an exceptional film experience. The film was a production of a massive budget that didn't actually see it multiplied. But it made enough for Warner Bros. to make them follow up with a recent film.

It was acclaimed by critics who praised George Miller's signature style of action filmmaking, and it was an Academy Awards darling that got ten nominations at Hollywood's most important event. It went on to win six awards that night, a sweep that reflects the score in Rotten Tomatoes.

6 John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Critics score: 94% - audience score: 93%.

John Wick: Chapter 4

John Wick: Chapter 4 sees the titular assassin-for-hire once again coming back from the dead. This time, Wick sets his sights on bringing down the High Table, the organization made up of the criminal cell leaders who wish to participate in the management of their minions. With the help of his usual friends, Wick goes on a rampage, and the most violent yet, to stop the organization before they can hire every hitman in the world to get rid of the superhuman gun-wielding genius.

The fourth film in the franchise isn't that much different from the previous entries. However, John Wick: Chapter 4 ups the stakes with more elaborate set pieces and the lack of restriction that some rules of physics demand. In 2023, it quickly became the highest-grossing film in the franchise when it made $440 million at the box office. Though some critics accused it of being too ridiculous in its execution, it comfortably holds its solid score on Rotten Tomatoes, the best of all four movies.

5 Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Critics score: 96% - audience score: 94%.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One is the seventh film in the franchise of Ethan Hunt, aka Tom Cruise at his most spectacular. In the film, the titular spy joins forces with his Impossible Mission Force crew to bring down a computer program that has gone rogue and represents the danger of AI being sentient.

In reality, the criminal organization known as the Entity has been in control of the advanced technology, and someone must stop them before they gain control of the entire planet.

The film is one of the most expensive productions in cinema; it had a budget of a little less than $300 million. However, the box office reaction was just decent, as it collided with the Barbenheimer phenomenon, and people weren't exactly paying attention to Cruise's theatrics.

However, critics were enamored with Cruise's spectacle of set pieces, visual effects, and action stunts. It received two nominations at the Academy Awards, and it paved the way for an upcoming sequel that was at first going to be a conclusion to the two-part film event, but now it remains without a title connection . We'll see how it goes next year (it's scheduled for a 2025 release). You can stream Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One on Paramount+.

4 Die Hard (1988)

Critics score: 94% - audience score: 94%.

In Die Hard , a New York City Police Detective named John McClane travels to Los Angeles on Christmas Eve to see if he can rekindle his relationship with his wife. He heads over to her place, a massive building called the Nakatomi Plaza, where there's a Christmas party going on .

When McClane manages to wash up after the long flight, a terrorist named Hans Gruber takes the building and everyone inside hostage. Only McClane escapes and manages to counter the hostage crisis from inside the building.

John McTiernan's epic action thriller from 1988 was the film that put Bruce Willis in the spotlight as a performer who could do more than television. After being the most successful action film of the year, it got nominated for four Academy Awards, but it won none.

Strangely, critics at the time weren't as friendly, with many criticizing Willis' lack of comedic moments and excessive violence. However, as years passed, it saw its cult status grow, with critics calling it one of the best action films ever made, a reception well reflected in the Rotten Tomatoes score.

3 The French Connection (1971)

Critics score: 96% - audience score: 87%.

The French Connection

Action thriller epic The French Connection follows Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, two NYPD detectives who discover a drug smuggling ring that's operating from France and which will see New York as its port of entry. When they try to catch the culprits, they realize the organization has expanded like no other, and it won't be an easy task, even as federal forces join them. The 1971 film is the only Best Picture Oscar winner on the list.

Its release was crucial to give William Friedkin the position he so deserved in the industry. It was the introduction he needed with enough grit and style to give him complete creative control over what would eventually become The Exorcist in 1973. Nominated for eight Academy Awards, it was a critics' darling back then and save for a few detractors like renowned Pauline Kael, its cult status grew and turned into the high Rotten Tomatoes score that puts it on the list.

The Best Action Movies With Female Leads

Action movies have long since been a male-centric genre, yet in recent years women have steadily shown that they can kick butt with the best of them.

2 The Fugitive (1993)

Critics score: 96% - audience score: 89%.

The Fugitive

The Fugitive tells the story of Dr. Richard Kimble, a renowned surgeon who finds his wife dead when he returns home one day. Unfortunately, Kimble's account is inconclusive, and the reports are inconsistent with the evidence. Eventually, he's formally accused and convicted of the murder, and his sentence is death.

Luckily, during an inmate transportation operation, some convicts attempt an escape, and Kimble is able to run. Deputy U.S. Marshal Sam Gerard goes on a hunt for the "criminal," but when Kimble spares him, he begins to have doubts about the man's role in the murder.

The film was a blockbuster in 1993 (it became the third-highest-grossing film of the year, falling behind Jurassic Park and Mrs. Doubtfire ). Critics raved about it , and it quickly became one of the most talked-about films of the year, with many praising Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones' performances in the movie based on the 1960 TV show of the same name.

The Academy was also enamored with the action thriller, giving it seven nominations and Jones the prize for Best Supporting Actor.

1 Goldfinger (1964)

Critics score: 99% - audience score: 89%.

Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger is the third film in the James Bond franchise and features Sean Connery as the iconic spy investigating bullion dealer Auric Goldfinger. Eventually, the agent discovers Goldfinger has a peculiar way of killing his victims (he lethally covers their skin with gold) and has a much larger plan. He intends to hit Fort Knox, steal every bit of gold he can get his hands on, and smuggle the country's reserves to help his criminal organization.

The film was a massive success, making more than $100 million back in 1964. It was also the first Bond film to win an Oscar. The reception by critics didn't differ as they celebrated the first genuine and serious version of Bond, but they were also fond of the thrilling element of the film, which features a near-perfect villain. It was also the first time that Bond's gadgets were prominent, a recurring theme that was heavily used throughout the whole franchise.

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100 Best Movies on Netflix Ranked by Tomatometer (July 2024)

In our world of massive entertainment options, who’s got time to waste on the below-average? You’ve got a subscription, you’re ready for a marathon, and you want only the best movies no Netflix to watch. With thousands of choices on the platform, both original and acquired, we’ve found the 100 top Netflix movies with the highest Tomatometer scores! Time to get comfy on the couch!

New top movies this month: Easy A , Back to the Future , Spider-Man 2 , Captain Phillips , Call Me By Your Name

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Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2020) 97%

Dolemite Is My Name (2019) 97%

Hunt for the Wilderpeople (2016) 97%

Mudbound (2017) 97%

Paddington (2014) 97%

I Lost My Body (2019) 97%

Roma (2018) 96%

Tangerine (2015) 96%

Atlantics (2019) 96%

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) 96%

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To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) 96%

Outside In (2017) 96%

The Irishman (2019) 95%

Marriage Story (2019) 95%

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) 95%

Hit Man (2023) 95%

It Follows (2014) 95%

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The Kindergarten Teacher (2018) 90%

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Zombieland (2009) 89%

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Mary and The Witch's Flower (2017) 89%

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The Breakfast Club (1985) 89%

Paddleton (2019) 89%

1917 (2019) 88%

Fear Street Part Three: 1666 (2021) 88%

Donnie Brasco (1997) 88%

Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017) 87%

Fear Street Part Two: 1978 (2021) 87%

My Father's Dragon (2022) 87%

The Breaker Upperers (2018) 87%

The Conjuring (2013) 86%

Vivo (2021) 86%

Lady Chatterley's Lover (2022) 86%

Munich: The Edge of War (2021) 86%

Fair Play (2023) 85%

Easy A (2010) 85%

The Wonder (2022) 85%

Shortcomings (2023) 85%

The Deepest Breath (2023) 85%

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Donald Sutherland Has Three 'Perfect' Movies On Rotten Tomatoes, But They Aren't His Best

When it comes to undisputed cinematic classics, there are several films that have cemented their standing amid the greatest ever made. "Citizen Kane," "The Godfather," "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia." What's that? You've never heard of "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia?" I'm not sure what you philistines have been watching but I'll have you know this short film currently holds a prestigious 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes .

Yes, the website that has made a business out of slapping percentage scores on art has decreed that "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia" is one of a handful of films worthy of the elusive "perfect" score. That means it sits alongside James Cameron's seminal 1984 effort "The Terminator" and Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 masterpiece "Stalker," both of which also hold 100% ratings and coincidentally are the only two perfect sci-fi movies ever made  according to RT (along with  two of the "Toy Story" movies ).

Why is any of this important? Well, it's not really. But it is interesting that "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia" also happens to be one of the "perfect" films Donald Sutherland has been associated with. The legendary actor of incredible range sadly passed away this year , but he can rest easy knowing he managed to attain the prestigious 100% RT score not once but three whole times. It's a shame none of those films are actually his best, but still...

Donald Sutherland's highest-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes isn't just for individual movies. You can also look up actors and directors and get a good overview of how their work has fared over the years. In the case of Tim Burton, doing so reveals he didn't even direct his highest-rated film , which should go some way towards letting you know how seriously to take any of this. Similarly, for Donald Sutherland, Rotten Tomatoes ' ranking of the man's work shows that one of his highest-rated efforts was a short film for which he provided the voiceover — yep, "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia."

But surely the esteemed star of such cinematic marvels as "Don't Look Now" would not want his legacy to be defined by taking "an in-depth look at the world of some of the largest dinosaurs." Fortunately, RT has also bestowed the hallowed 100% rating on a further two of his movies. Unfortunately, those movies are "Dr. Terror's House Of Horrors" and "Path To War." The former is a 1965 British anthology horror film in which Sutherland appears during the "Vampire" section as a doctor who's forced to stake his French bride after finding out she's a bloodthirsty creature of the night. The latter is a 2002 HBO TV movie which features Sutherland as presidential advisor Clark M. Clifford in what RT states is a "dramatization of the decision-making behind the Johnson administration's escalation of the Vietnam War in the mid 1960s." (No, shockingly, I have not seen "Path to War.")

Meanwhile, the enduringly brilliant and indelibly disturbing "Don't Look Now" currently enjoys a 93% rating. So what on earth is going on in a world where a truly artful Giallo-infused horror classic is ranked lower than a short film featuring awkwardly-animated low-res CGI T-Rexes?

The amount of reviews behind the RT score matters

Any film fan will surely be aware of the phenomenon whereby a film debuts on Rotten Tomatoes with a surprisingly robust percentage score before seeing said score whittled down as more and more reviews come in. It happened with the truly dismal "Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey 2," which arrived on RT with an unbelievable 100% score , only for that to plummet as more critiques were aggregated. The film currently sits at 46% on the site .

For whatever reason, then, the chance of getting a high RT score increases when there are only a handful of reviews available. This also works in the other direction, too, with movies often managing to achieve the equally elusive 0% rating due to a paucity of reviews — as is the case with the seven worst John Travolta movies (although quite a few of those actually do have a decent amount of reviews, so...)

RT works by simply aggregating reviews and assigning a percentage score based on how many are positive and how many are negative. In the case of "Don't Look Now," its 93% rating is based on a healthy 83 reviews. In the case of "Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia," its 100% rating is based on seven. "Path to War," meanwhile, has 100 reviews, while "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors" has five. So, you might be starting to see why Rotten Tomatoes' rankings of actors' work isn't perhaps the most helpful gauge. In the meantime, might we suggest watching some of Sutherland's actual best work, such as the acclaimed 1970s drama "Klute" (which coincidentally helped inspire 2022's "The Batman").