For as long as there have been films, there have been film critics, and their opinions are as varied as snowflakes drifting to earth. (Or tsunamis hammering the shores!)

It's easy to snicker with superiority at those detractors who prematurely slapped the label "Selznick's Folly" on Gone With the Wind; they quickly back-pedaled after its grand world premier. Hindsight is always convenient. Oftentimes, the negative critique matches public consensus - but, not always.

"...The Age of Innocence is inhabited by characters either unwilling or unable to take action, a difficult thing to dramatize and a problem never resolved in [director Martin] Scorsese's adaptation."
- Critic Joanne Kaufman, People review of The Age of Innocence (1993)

"As played by Tom Hulce, Mozart emerges as the John McEnroe of classical music, an immature brat with loads of talent, but with little human dimension."
- Variety review of Amadeus (1984)

"Maybe Nora Ephron should have based her story on somebody else's marriage. That way, she could have provided the distance and perspective that good comedy needs... This is a bitter, sour movie about two people who are only marginally interesting."
- Critic Roger Ebert, on Heartburn (1986)

"...An abysmal little wet fart of a picture."
- Novelist Stephen King, on The Horror of Party Beach (1964)

"Sadly, the story is nowhere as original as the details and performances. ...If you can't guess the ending, you haven't seen When Harry Met Sally... Or Love, American Style, for that matter."
- Critic Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today review of If Lucy Fell (1996)

"To sit through this cutesy, sugary sequel is like being submerged in a silo of Froot Loops."
- Critic Bruce Williamson, Playboy review of Oh, God! Book II (1980)

"We do wish the young actors, including Mr. [James] Dean, had not been so intent on imitating Marlon Brando in varying degrees... it grows monotonous. And we'd be more convinced by Jim Backus and Ann Doran as parents of Mr. Dean if they weren't so obviously silly and ineffectual in treating with the boy."
- Critic Bosley Crowther, New York Times review of Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

"It's over-planned and uninspired; the Western was better before it became so self-importantly self-conscious."
- Critic Pauline Kael, on Shane (1953)

"...A nasty piece of work undone by excessive mayhem and miscalculated humor."
- People review of Small Soldiers (1998)

"The film is like A Hard Day's Night directed by an idiot: full of sound from the girls and probable fury from future audiences."
- Critic Nigel Andrews of London Financial Times, on Spiceworld (1997)

Author: Vicki McClure Davidson

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