Sometimes Rotten Tomatoes Taste Good

My wife and I usually rely on Rotten Tomatoes to give us a sense of whether a new movie is worth seeing. It’s not one critic’s opinion; it’s the aggregate of a lot of critics’ opinions. Any movie that gets over 80% is probably worth watching (whether we actually get around to seeing it or not).

Sometimes we get the itch, though. Sometimes we want to see some lighthearted fluff. So when Rotten Tomatoes “gave” Sydney White only 39%, we didn’t really care, and we saw it anyway. One of the “Cream of the Crop” reviews says it’s “[a] feeble college comedy aimed at middle schoolers.” So what? What’s wrong with aiming at middle schoolers?

I’ll admit it—my wife and I were the only people in the theater over the age of 14. They laughed. We laughed. It was a fun movie. Sometimes, yes, even a rotten tomato can be a good tomato… if you’re in the mood for something rotten.

6 comments

  1. Sometimes critics go overboard in analysing a movie when the ultimate aim is for good, mindless entertainment for a few hours.

    I find that sometimes what I consider good movies are usually written off as trash by the highbrow critics.

    When I want to get educated or enlightened, I read a book; not watch a movie.

    Also it’s good to read reviews from a variety of sources to get a good idea of the movie’s worth.

  2. Well, the great thing about Rotten Tomatoes is that it does draw reviews from a variety of sources. But, even then, the sources tend to be pretty high-brow in their tastes.

    And don’t forget there are books whose ultimate aim is mindless entertainment, too!

    I agree with you otherwise, though.

  3. Actually I meant, variety of sources as in different websites.

    Rottentomatoes is one website, so it is conceivable that some reviewers might be affected by existing reviews on the same website.

  4. I think the critics are more minded story-wise in a comedy movie. For example, I heard critics didn’t like The Simpsons Movie for some reason. I went to see it, and I laughed hard. I realized that the story wasn’t all that great, but what do you expect from the Simpsons?

    Philosophy: If the movie moves you, makes you cry, makes you laugh, or terrorizes you out of your (bad, noisy) chair, then it is a good movie (unless the acting is awful).

  5. @Reyes-Chow
    Hadn’t even thought of that. Next time we will bring Ev!

    @hari
    Rotten Tomatoes is one website, but the reviews are not generated by RT staff or visitors. The website draws excerpt reviews from other sources (completely unrelated to RT). Check it out some time.

    @st33med
    I agree completely. Laughed till it hurt when I watched The Simpsons Movie!

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