Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows RT App News Showtimes
Publications list

Charlotte Observer

Tomatometer-approved publication.

Prev Next
Rating Title | Year Author Quote
2/4
North (1994) Lawrence Toppman "North" is an undercooked confection that leaves almost no taste on the tongue.
Posted Jan 24, 2026  Edit critic review
3/4
The American President (1995) Lawrence Toppman A spun-sugar romance in the grandest Hollywood style, as polished and graceful as it is unprovocative and superficial. It's a near-masterpiece of its delicate, artificial, lightweight kind.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
1.5/4
Misery (1990) Lawrence Toppman Kathy Bates plays Annie as a loony from the get-go; there's never a chance she'll do anything but flip out.
Posted Jan 22, 2026  Edit critic review
Bite the Bullet (1975) Dick Banks "Bite The Bullet" is a mediocre motion picture with a great cast.
Posted Jan 15, 2026  Edit critic review
The Magnificent Seven (1960) Dick Banks Call it an absorbing, entertaining picture. As cowboy stories go, this is exceptional.
Posted Jan 14, 2026  Edit critic review
Stand by Me (1986) JoAnn Rhetts [Rob Reiner] paints with tolerance, affection and a Mark Twainish humor.
Posted Jan 13, 2026  Edit critic review
The Sure Thing (1985) JoAnn Rhetts [Reiner] shares his father's appreciation for humor that is low-key and offbeat.
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
5/5
The Princess Bride (1987) JoAnn Rhetts The Princess Bride is Reiner's third movie, and what it has in common with his first two is that there's not a mean bone in its body. Reiner's is a gentle wit, a tongue-in-cheek and clever wit but one that's as light as Buttercup's wedding dress.
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
2.5/4
A Few Good Men (1992) Lawrence Toppman It's a guilty pleasure for anyone who values individuality or creativity but a pleasure nonetheless, with its crackling courtroom scenes and bravura acting. Its motto ought to be "Semper Feelgoodis."
Posted Jan 07, 2026  Edit critic review
Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) Dick Pitts It is a thought-provoking picture, in which no words are minced, and a spade is called a spade.
Posted Dec 31, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
Hook (1991) Lawrence Toppman People have rightly criticized Spielberg for portraying adult emotions simplistically, but they may eat their words after seeing the real-world segments of this movie... Yet the picture turns into a banal thrill ride when Peter lands in Neverland.
Posted Dec 19, 2025  Edit critic review
Christine (1983) JoAnn Rhetts Carpenter directs with the fluid ease of a just-tuned engine in overdrive.
Posted Dec 17, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
Big Top Pee-wee (1988) Lawrence Toppman "Big Top Pee-wee" has a few things in it for older people, but it's definitely a kids' movie at heart -- and as such, intermittently funny.
Posted Dec 11, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
The Abyss (1989) Lawrence Toppman Mastrantonio gives a superb performance, the kind that will be overlooked in a movie full of intriguing machinery.
Posted Dec 10, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
True Lies (1994) Lawrence Toppman Excessiveness has always been Cameron's greatest virtue in action sequences and greatest weakness in characterization. True Lies takes both to extremes. And because it's a comedy, it seems groaningly silly in spots.
Posted Dec 09, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Lawrence Toppman The violence is still gratuitous, although Terminator Arnold doesn't kill anybody. ...But for a whopping adrenalin rush that feels like a dozen straight rides on a corkscrew rollercoaster, "Terminator II" can't be surpassed.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
The Terminator (1984) Martin Levin The Terminator whizzes from one blazing special effect to another until -- Pow! Zowie! Splat! You'll love it. I did.
Posted Dec 08, 2025  Edit critic review
A Christmas Carol (1984) Mark Wolf "A Christmas Carol" is moving and heartfelt but never sappily sentimental.
Posted Dec 04, 2025  Edit critic review
The Wiz (1978) Catherine Chapin This "Wiz" may leave you wondering if Dorothy wasn't better off at home.
Posted Nov 18, 2025  Edit critic review
Predator (1987) Charlotte Observer Staff "Predator" works because it strings us along in a clever way.
Posted Oct 30, 2025  Edit critic review
Rebel Without a Cause (1955) Dick Banks "Rebel Without a Cause" is certainly one of the least "preachy" or pious films about juvenile delinquency.
Posted Oct 23, 2025  Edit critic review
Dracula (1979) JoAnn Rhetts Director John Badham has stripped this duel of titans to sex, special effects and sound.
Posted Oct 21, 2025  Edit critic review
Stephen King's It (1990) Tim Funk Curry's adult co-stars are adequate, but it's the child actors who make "It" more than just a scary couple of hours.
Posted Oct 09, 2025  Edit critic review
Tron (1982) JoAnn Rhetts 53 lyrical minutes of computer animation make "Tron" the prettiest 99 minutes ever of "Beam me up, Scotty."
Posted Oct 06, 2025  Edit critic review
Hard Times (1975) Dick Banks The script is disaster. Hill's direction doesn't rate accolades' either. He seems under the impression that flinty faces and a funeral pace add up to artful realism.
Posted Sep 25, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
To Sleep With Anger (1990) Lawrence Toppman The actors keep the electricity flowing with sharp performances.
Posted Sep 23, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Hard Eight (1996) Lawrence Toppman It's a world of moral grays, and Sidney's the walking embodiment of that ambiguity: gray hair, gray suit, even a gray-blue car. Yet through that grayness, if you peer long enough, colors will emerge that reward your patience.
Posted Sep 22, 2025  Edit critic review
This Is Spinal Tap (1984) JoAnn Rhetts "This Is Spinal Tap" is an affectionate, hilarious parody of everything adults have ever loved to hate about rock music.
Posted Sep 09, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Darkman (1990) Lawrence Toppman Watching the bravura direction and playing "Spot The Reference" yields pleasure enough, but the action has weight, too.
Posted Aug 25, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Waterworld (1995) Lawrence Toppman What did reach the screen... will jolt action fans pleasurably and provide enough exoticism to satisfy anybody jaded by the genre.
Posted Jul 28, 2025  Edit critic review
3/5
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988) Lawrence Toppman "The Naked Gun" is puerile, infantine, featherbrained, preposterous -- so far beyond silly that I had to consult a thesaurus to find proper synonyms. Also funny.
Posted Jul 24, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991) Lawrence Toppman Dopey? Of course. But with every other serious competitor out of the field, ZAZ-Profit are the kings of juvenile humor. To give them their due, they do it well.
Posted Jul 22, 2025  Edit critic review
2.5/4
DuckTales, the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990) Matt Brunson Young kids should really take to this, while the solid animation and some contemporary wisecracks help make it painless for adults as well.
Posted Jul 17, 2025  Edit critic review
Explorers (1985) JoAnn Rhetts Director Joe Dante churns up Eric Luke's first screenplay into a fine froth, but the point would have been nicely contained in a "Twilight Zone" show.
Posted Jul 10, 2025  Edit critic review
Superman: The Movie (1978) Catherine Chapin What Superman probably will do for star Christopher Reeve is make him the Sean Connery of the '70s. Although the movie demands more of him physically than mentally, Reeves radiates a Superman personna.
Posted Jul 08, 2025  Edit critic review
Superman III (1983) JoAnn Rhetts Superman III, which has some wonderful moments and gives Christopher Reeve his best shot yet, is about the man.
Posted Jul 07, 2025  Edit critic review
4/4
Jurassic Park (1993) Lawrence Toppman About the time the earth begins to move, when Tyrannosaurus rex unleashes a roar like the gates of hell swinging wide, you'll know you're watching a rarity: The first Hollywood "event" picture in years to transcend its press.
Posted Jul 01, 2025  Edit critic review
The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) Lawrence Toppman On a technical level, The Lost World is a jaw-dropping, eardrum-thumping, bone-rattling amusement park ride in two dimensions, as accomplished and well-designed as Jurassic Park. On an imaginative level, it's sound and fury signifying nothing.
Posted Jun 30, 2025  Edit critic review
Supergirl (1984) JoAnn Rhetts If you still think turkeys can't fly, you obviously haven't seen "Supergirl."
Posted Jun 27, 2025  Edit critic review
Superman II (1980) JoAnn Rhetts Graced by Christopher Reeve's impeccable performance, "Superman II" takes full, funny and high-flying advantage of the talky groundwork laid by the original 2 1/2 years ago.
Posted Jun 25, 2025  Edit critic review
3.5/4
Apollo 13 (1995) Lawrence Toppman Director Ron Howard, who has built a career on easygoing, reassuring movies from Night Shift to The Paper, finally achieves true drama.
Posted Jun 25, 2025  Edit critic review
Return to Oz (1985) JoAnn Rhetts Murch's inexperience shows in the film's lack of shape and humor.
Posted Jun 19, 2025  Edit critic review
Rollerball (1975) Dick Banks Originality and brutality are the prime ingredients of "Rollerball."
Posted Jun 05, 2025  Edit critic review
The Karate Kid Part II (1986) JoAnn Rhetts The acting is again top-drawer, the Okinawa locations spectacular, Bill Conti's music gently contemplative and Robert Mark Kamen's script sweetly spiritual.
Posted May 27, 2025  Edit critic review
The Karate Kid (1984) JoAnn Rhetts The Karate Kid is that rare summer movie with the quiet courage of its convictions. Too long and sometimes too slow, it nevertheless has the guts to be about a real kid with real problems.
Posted May 27, 2025  Edit critic review
Starman (1984) JoAnn Rhetts No filmmaker has ever showed Allen off to better advantage, and Bridges continues to reveal himself as a droll hunk of many facets.
Posted May 13, 2025  Edit critic review
D
Mission: Impossible II (2000) Lawrence Toppman This movie is straw that refuses to be spun into gold.
Posted May 08, 2025  Edit critic review
3/4
Mission: Impossible (1996) Lawrence Toppman The grand finale takes place within the Chunnel Tunnel, and is so silly and preposterous that it reminded me of a Chuck Jones "Roadrunner" cartoon. At least the TV show held on to some semblance of reality.
Posted May 07, 2025  Edit critic review
C
Mission: Impossible (1996) Charlotte Observer Staff The grand finale takes place within the Chunnel Tunnel, and is so silly and preposterous that it reminded me of a Chuck Jones "Roadrunner" cartoon. At least the TV show held on to some semblance of reality.
Posted May 06, 2025  Edit critic review
The Stepford Wives (1975) Dick Banks The satirical aspect of the science fiction gimmick can taken only so far, but to argue it out fully would give away too much of this brightly photographed film.
Posted May 02, 2025  Edit critic review
Prev Next