# What movies got rave reviews by the critics, yet were vastly overrated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2009, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618 "2009-11-23T08:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/41 "2009-11-24T14:49:59Z")
I agree on **Brazil** , which I really want to like because I agree with what Gilliam was trying to say. Strongly agree. But man, the movie is just bad. It looks terrible, like vomit on the screen, the pacing is bad, the acting choices don’t make sense in parts, the editing is bad, the cinematography is amateur. I’ve watched it a few times, and I want to like it, but it is a great idea made into a really terrible film. Honestly it looks like a feature length Sweded film. As mentioned upthread, **The Usual Suspects**. I really liked it until the retarded “twist”. That ruins the movie. It is basically the same as ending a film with the main character waking up and it all being a dream. It made the whole story bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/42 "2009-11-24T21:09:45Z")
**Raging Bull**. The main character is a disgusting bore, the pace is slow as molasses, the non-linear editing is just confusing, and the photography is too brightly lit. But then, I’m not member of the Scorsese Cult. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2009, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/43 "2009-11-24T21:34:13Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Wall-E was visually gorgeous, but had, IMO, the worst plot of any of the Pixar films. It practically beat you over the head with its green message, and the characters were easily forgetable. Wall-E didn’t have a major green message. Its major message was self-reliance, with the green message forming, at best, a strong B-plot. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/44 "2009-11-25T05:43:27Z")
I don’t understand the love for “Godfather Part II”. The first one is pretty good. “Goodfellas” is a great mob picture. But the two times I saw “Part II” back in the 1970s, I was unimpressed. Same thing with “Carnal Knowledge”. And “Fargo”. And “Brazil”. “Gladiator” was disappointing although I liked the re-enactment of the “Battle of Zama” that went wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/45 "2009-11-25T06:18:09Z")
Count me in as a “Gosford Park” hater. Altman made his actors talk over each other in a lot of his movies, but in this one it just got out of hand. I had to watch it with the subtitles on because I couldn’t pull apart what the hell everyone was saying. ---
**Author:** ![Omgalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/41988e/32.png) [@Omgalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omgalion)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/46 "2009-11-25T06:25:56Z")
Anything by Quentin Tarantino. I don’t get why his movies always get rave reviews. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/47 "2009-11-25T07:41:28Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > **Eyes Wide Shut**. Rich people really like sex, and will kill to keep this a secret. Worst movie ever! Kubrick and I have… issues. It did not help that my unwitting mother took me to see this film when I was 13. Most awkward theater experience of my life! ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/48 "2009-11-25T09:00:23Z")
I’ve never even heard of Gosford Park. Sounds like I’m not missing much. I’d say Scarface. I watched it awhile back. It was alright, but certainly not worth decades of fanwank that it gets. There Will Be Blood. I turned it off halfway through the climactic oil rig explosion scene. The music sounded like a concert performance done by 5th graders. I mean really, if fire and earth shattering kabooms can’t keep my interest in a movie, it’s pretty awful. Also, any Quentin Tarantino movie. ANY of them. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/49 "2009-11-25T09:43:40Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > The Usual Suspects. Everybody told me what a great movie it was, and I was pumped when I finally got around to renting it. But, I don’t maybe if it was because I was expecting so much, I found it kind of tedious. It felt like they were trying too hard to replicate David Mamet. > When they had the big reveal at the end, I was like “meh.” It was kind of cool, I guess, but at that point I just didn’t care enough about the story or the characters to get really excited about it. AMEN. And the big surprise was obvious. ---
**Author:** ![SunSandSuffering](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@SunSandSuffering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunSandSuffering)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/50 "2009-11-25T11:31:24Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Worst movie ever! Kubrick and I have… issues. > > It did not help that my unwitting mother took me to see this film when I was 13. Most awkward theater experience of my life! How did that come about!? Surely you must have had some idea what it was about in advance? It was all over the news for months ahead of release. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/51 "2009-11-25T14:07:30Z")
> [@Dorothea\_Book](#): > > Agree with **Freudian Slit** , _Gosford Park_ was a great movie–not overrated. > > The movie that takes the bill for me in this category is _Mulholland Drive_–pretentious bullshit masked as meaningful art. Not. Yeah, I agree with that one, too. I actually thought it was really awesome for a while (as a dumb college student) and really wanted to understand it and all. I’m staring to think my love of David Lynch was just a phase. I don’t know what I saw in it. **EvilTOJ** , Gosford Park is a good movie, but it doesn’t appeal to most of the population. It’s about a murder that takes place at an English manor house during a weekend hunting party in the 30s. Though it’s not really a murder mystery, exactly–the focus is on the characters and the whole hierarchy/class system. Very Upstairs, Downstairs. Lots of characters, lots of dialogue that you have to pay attention to. It’s not an easy movie to like, but it’s really brilliant, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/52 "2009-11-25T14:30:59Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > **EvilTOJ** , Gosford Park is a good movie, but it doesn’t appeal to most of the population. It’s about a murder that takes place at an English manor house during a weekend hunting party in the 30s. Though it’s not really a murder mystery, exactly–the focus is on the characters and the whole hierarchy/class system. Very Upstairs, Downstairs. Lots of characters, lots of dialogue that you have to pay attention to. It’s not an easy movie to like, but it’s really brilliant, IMO. Wow. That is _really_ condescending, don’t you think? You seem to be saying that if you didn’t enjoy Gosford Park it’s because you are too dumb (or possibly just too ignorant) to follow it. ETA: I’m not trying to pick a fight with you **FS** , I just think it’s possible to understand the movie and still not like it. Put me in that category. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/53 "2009-11-25T14:36:17Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Wow. That is _really_ condescending, don’t you think? You seem to be saying that if you didn’t enjoy Gosford Park it’s because you are too dumb (or possibly just too ignorant) to follow it. > > ETA: I’m not trying to pick a fight with you **FS** , I just think it’s possible to understand the movie and still not like it. Put me in that category. I didn’t mean to come off as condescending. Just that if you go into it wanting a fun murder mystery, you’re not going to get anything out of it, since that’s not really the point of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/54 "2009-11-25T14:58:11Z")
> [@SunSandSuffering](#): > > How did that come about!? Surely you must have had some idea what it was about in advance? It was all over the news for months ahead of release. 😕 We didn’t have a clue what it was about. The extent of the research was, ‘‘Oh, this movie has Tom Cruise. He’s a decent actor, let’s go see that.’’ _Eyes Wide Shut_ sounds like it could be one of his action drama movies, like _Minority Report_. I mean, it wasn’t called _Secret Orgy Movie_ or anything. Since neither of us are complete prudes, we kept watching the movie, thinking it might be moving toward some kind of meaning. Still, it was very embarrassing. On the way out of the theater, my Mom whispered, ‘‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’’ ---
**Author:** ![boozilu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4da419/32.png) [@boozilu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boozilu)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/55 "2009-11-25T15:16:08Z")
Mr. Boozilu saw Caligula with his mom as a teenager – talk about awkward! Plus, he tells me it is a terrible film that got great reviews at the time. Discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Dorothea\_Book](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Dorothea\_Book](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorothea_Book)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/56 "2009-11-25T15:29:13Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’m staring to think my love of David Lynch was just a phase. Yeah–_Twin Peaks_ was fun and, in retrospect, an intimation of how great serial television could be. _Eraserhead_ was so depressing–I couldn’t watch it a second time… Agree that _Gosford Park_ is really an analysis of the British class system more than any other single thing but also this… amazing Helen Mirren role; par for the course but still… the young Clive Owen really good as the young Clive Owen. vintage Richard Grant in the bitchiest scene ever captured on celluloid. Jeremy Northam singing: who knew? Maggie Smith. Period. Emily Watson fleshing out the role of a maid really nicely (pun partly intended) and all this with Robert Altman directing in that gracious style of his–a great movie to watch while digesting your Thanksgiving dinner now that I think of it–and, yes, an awesome diagnosis of an almost doomed-to-extinction class system in pre-war Britain. Though compare it to Joseph Losey’s _The Servant_ (1963) just for fun (while digesting your pumpkin pie, maybe?) ---
**Author:** ![StoutHearted](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@StoutHearted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StoutHearted)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/57 "2009-11-25T15:45:32Z")
> [@Lethal\_Babydoll](#): > > \*\*And There Will Be Blood. \*\*Ugh! Nothing in art should be that bleak. Toss us smile. Life is funny. I guess you’re not looking forward to _The Road_, then? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/58 "2009-11-25T16:48:58Z")
If I want an examination of the British class system, and in a much richer movie (IMO), I’ll take **The Remains of the Day**. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/59 "2009-11-25T16:52:38Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > Gladiator - Okay, but hardly Best Picture (which it won) quality. > > Drag Me To Hell - I was pretty disappointed by this, in large part because of the rave (92% on Rotten Tomatoes) reviews I’d read that convinced me to see it in the theaters instead of waiting for DVD. Sorry, it just wasn’t that great. If you read the actual reviews…they were not hugely positive. the 92% seems to come from the movie meeting their threshhold of not getting tomatoed so almost all critics gave it an ok rating…which resulted in 92% ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618/60 "2009-11-25T16:53:43Z")
A Beautiful Mind. Wayyy overrated IMO. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-got-rave-reviews-by-the-critics-yet-were-vastly-overrated/518618.md?page=4)