Biggest disparites between critics and audiences

[Tkeyjw]

What are some of the most noticeable cases of disagreement between critical consensus and audience consensus that you remember? By audience consensus, I don't just mean box office numbers, because that list would go on forever, and box office isn't necessarily indicative of how much the general public actually liked a given movie. I'm talking about the overall mainstream opinions of movies. For instance, The Help is a recent movie that was very well liked by audiences, although I'm not sure it fits this topic because it got generally good reviews too.

Right off the top of my head, two movies from last year fit the bill: Drive and The Tree of Life. Both movies got consistent placements on critics' top 10 lists, but they were both pretty much despised by the general moviegoing public (excluding movie buffs, that is, because their tastes are usually more in line with the critics). With Drive it was probably because it was marketed as being much more of a generic action movie than it was, and with The Tree of Life, well, that was never going to be an audience favorite. But I remember reading articles about an unusual number of walkouts during that movie, and so many people asked for their money back that some theaters resorted to posting warnings about the movie at the ticket booth.

What are some others? And this can be either movies that critics loved and audiences hated or movies that critics hated and audiences loved. I'm just trying to see which ones really drew a decisive line between the film buffs/critics and the general public.

[hoojib127]

I think the biggest disparity is obvisously that the average moviegoer treats movies like fast food... hence the popularity of, say, the "Transformers" series. And that's also why most big studio movies are totally formulaic crap. Funny you mentioned "Drive," since a woman actually tried to sue Sony because in the trailers and TV spots it looked like more of a "Fast and the Furious" knock-off to her, which is why she went to see it in the first place. Of course, when it turned out that it was a film that actually [gasp] asked her to use her brain, she flipped out.

I'm pretty sure most critics become critics because not because of movies like "Transformers" or "The Fast and the Furious" but more for works like "Drive" and "The Tree of Life."

[Digifruitella]

Spoiler:

I'm most likely way off but I'll say it anyway, Brody is playing them all with the double agent aspect. Oh and Dana is annoying. Can't tell whether it's writer's intention or that girl is just playing the character this way

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by Digifruitella

Spoiler:

I'm most likely way off but I'll say it anyway, Brody is playing them all with the double agent aspect. Oh and Dana is annoying. Can't tell whether it's writer's intention or that girl is just playing the character this way

Did you mean to put this in the Homeland thread and accidentally put it here instead by any chance?

[Silverload]

The mainstream audience and the critics want different things from movies.

The critics & movie buffs like discussing movies afterwards. If a movie can somehow provoke that discussion through ideas or themes, then critics seem to enjoy it.

The audience simply wants an emotion reaction from a movie, and they want to be entertained. They don't discuss movies beyond saying "yeah that was a good movie". The audience wants to walk away feeling something. If that feeling is mindless rollercoast-like entertainment (like Transformers), then so be it.

Also, the mainstream doesn't think much of Transformers. I've never met a single adult who thought highly of Transformers. Transformers has been a popular money machine long before the movies.

[Digifruitella]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

Did you mean to put this in the Homeland thread and accidentally put it here instead by any chance?

LMAO yes, I just checked that thread and saw it wasn't at the top then I realized "Uh oh"... first time for everything huh?

[hoojib127]

Originally Posted by Silverload

Also, the mainstream doesn't think much of Transformers. I've never met a single adult who thought highly of Transformers. Transformers has been a popular money machine long before the movies.

I have.

[gabriel1980]

I kinda recall The Shawshank Redemption being written off my critics and audiences alike when it was initially released, but now it's thought of one of the best films ever.

I think disparities between critics and audiences are most notable with the above mentioned Transformers movies and of course Twilight. Twlight has some of the worst reviews ever, but boy, those films make shitloads of money!

[smacaskill]

Originally Posted by gabriel1980

I kinda recall The Shawshank Redemption being written off my critics and audiences alike when it was initially released, but now it's thought of one of the best films ever.

I think disparities between critics and audiences are most notable with the above mentioned Transformers movies and of course Twilight. Twlight has some of the worst reviews ever, but boy, those films make shitloads of money!

I think just about any films aimed at teenagers such as the Twilight films are going to have a large disparity between the audience and critics. Critics are paid to give intelligent opinions about films whereas teenagers are idiots.

[Matchbox225]

Two recent movies that got great reviews, but no business with audiences are Children Of Men and Assassination of Jesse James. Those movies have been steadily building an audience the past few years, but in general the mainstream audience still hasn't seen either one.

As far as audiences loving a film, but critics not caring for it, the only one I can think of right now that isn't a franchise is Love Story. Audiences loved it, but the reviews were pretty mixed. The movie right now has a 57% rating on rottentomatoes.

[Erroneous]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JPOoFkrh94

This sums up how a critic thinks to me. Most critics are sell outs who just bash what will be poular just to gather attention.

At 1:20 is the truest line ever

[magjournal]

The Boondock Saints comes to mind immediately. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics rating is 17% while users give the film a 93%. I myself would go more with the audience analysis. I think The Boondock Saints and its sequel are incredibly entertaining.

[oh-dae-su]

Originally Posted by Erroneous

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JPOoFkrh94

This sums up how a critic thinks to me. Most critics are sell outs who just bash what will be poular just to gather attention.

At 1:20 is the truest line ever

All of my this. You have summed up every film critic in my eye. Especially now in the YouTube age where everyone is a critic, it has become much more apparent.

[gabriel1980]

Originally Posted by magjournal

The Boondock Saints comes to mind immediately. On Rotten Tomatoes, the critics rating is 17% while users give the film a 93%. I myself would go more with the audience analysis. I think The Boondock Saints and its sequel are incredibly entertaining.

I would rate the Boondock Saints about 17% myself - terrible movie.

[creekin111]

Besides Boondock Saints, Law Abiding Citizen is another one. In both instances I side more with the critics.

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by creekin111

Besides Boondock Saints, Law Abiding Citizen is another one. In both instances I side more with the critics.

I didn't realize audiences liked Law Abiding Citizen. If that is true, then I would definitely have to side with the critics. Such an incredibly stupid movie and such a waste of a great premise.

[Erroneous]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

I didn't realize audiences liked Law Abiding Citizen. If that is true, then I would definitely have to side with the critics. Such an incredibly stupid movie and such a waste of a great premise.

I live outside Philly. Nice to see places I have seen. I saw the movie when I was in Thailand and they changed the content of the movie to be less violent. I like it until the end.

[creekin111]

Besides the ones stated above here are some others....
Snatch -
6.4 on RT
8.3 on IMDB
Sherlock Holmes -
6.2 on RT
7.6 on IMDB
The Professional -
6.9 on RT
8.6 on IMDB
Blood Diamond -
6.3 on RT
8.0 on IMDB
Fight Club -
7.3 on RT
8.9 on IMDB
Forrest Gump -
7.0 on RT
8.7 on IMDB
Se7en -
7.3 on RT
8.6 on IMDB
American History X -
7.3 on RT
8.5 on IMDB
Requiem for a Dream -
7.3 on RT
8.4 on IMDB
Gladiator -
7.0 on RT
8.4 on IMDB
E.T. -
9.0 on RT
7.9 on IMDB & the same with The Social Network.
Shawshank Redemption -
8.1 on RT
9.3 on IMDB
Stagecoach -
9.2 on RT
7.9 on IMDB
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs -
8.8 on RT
7.8 on IMDB
Pinnochio -
9.0 on RT
7.6 on IMDB
Babe -
8.2 on RT
7.0 on IMDB
Birth of a Nation -
8.1 on RT
7.0 on IMDB
The Help -
7.0 on RT
8.0 on IMDB
Warrior -
7.3 on RT
8.3 on IMDB

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by Erroneous

I live outside Philly. Nice to see places I have seen. I saw the movie when I was in Thailand and they changed the content of the movie to be less violent. I like it until the end.

I live in the Philly suburbs. I saw some places in the movie that I've been to a lot. Especially City Hall. I thought that was cool. But a shitty movie is shitty and Law Abiding Citizen was a shitty movie, sadly.

I like seeing places I've been to in movies. Like in National Treasure, the first one, the scene that takes place in and outside of the Franklin Institute. In fact, Justin Bartha's character, in that scene, sits at the bench where I've sat at before. Like I said, I thought that was very cool.

[Erroneous]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

I live in the Philly suburbs. I saw some places in the movie that I've been to a lot. Especially City Hall. I thought that was cool. But a shitty movie is shitty and Law Abiding Citizen was a shitty movie, sadly.

I like seeing places I've been to in movies. Like in National Treasure, the first one, the scene that takes place in and outside of the Franklin Institute. In fact, Justin Bartha's character, in that scene, sits at the bench where I've sat at before. Like I said, I thought that was very cool.

Still a better movie than watching the Iggles.

F Gary Gray is a great talent and I enjoyed his movies. Mayor Michael Nutter I believe was in the movie too. I have passed by the jail in the movie like a million times. Road on the bridge another million times.

[ilovemovies]

Originally Posted by Erroneous

F Gary Gray is a great talent and I enjoyed his movies. Mayor Michael Nutter I believe was in the movie too. I have passed by the jail in the movie like a million times. Road on the bridge another million times.

Looking at his filmography, I find him to be a rather mixed bag. But he's definitely done some good stuff. My favorite of his easily being The Negotiator. That was a really good movie. The Italian Job was pretty decent too.

[Erroneous]

Originally Posted by ilovemovies

Looking at his filmography, I find him to be a rather mixed bag. But he's definitely done some good stuff. My favorite of his easily being The Negotiator. That was a really good movie. The Italian Job was pretty decent too.

He did Friday. That movie is a classic. One thing I notice about his movies are they never finish strong. The start off amazingly strong and die off. The first 45 mins of Be Cool was good. A Man Apart was a great first half. And I already thought that Law tailed off at the end.

[ilovemovies]

I didn't like Friday or A Man Apart. But I did enjoy Be Cool. It's got virtually the same story as Get Shorty and isn't as good as that movie, but it was a fun movie with a great cast.

[Rumpelstiltskin]

It was odd to discover his favorite director is Fellini.