David Gritten

David Gritten
David Gritten's reviews only count toward the Tomatometer® when published at the following Tomatometer-approved publication(s): Independent (UK) Daily Telegraph (UK)
Publications: Independent (UK), Daily Telegraph (UK)

Movie Reviews Only

T-Meter Title | Year
82% The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) One has to say this for The Man Who Fell to Earth: such a bold, imaginative work would never get made in today's fettered, cautious film industry, either here or in America. Roeg's work may have its faults - but its ambition is beyond reproach. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 13, 2016
4/5 94% The King's Speech (2010) It's an uplifting audience pleaser that also showcases film-making arts and crafts at an exalted level. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 20, 2015
86% Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Hellboy 2) (2008) Clearly, such material appeals primarily to teenage fanboys, but del Toro's dark humour broadens its scope. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 8, 2014
49% Saw (2004) [A] contrived, unlovable gore-fest with a high-concept premise. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 27, 2014
5/5 92% The Lives of Others (2006) Reopens our eyes to the cruelties and soul assassinations that were carried out daily in the name of state socialism. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 26, 2014
3/5 53% Fading Gigolo (2014) It's one of Allen's best film roles in years; acting in someone else's movie, he looks liberated, with a spring in his step: at one point, he almost skips his way through a scene. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted May 22, 2014
4/5 96% Particle Fever (2014) Where it excels is in depicting the various personalities involved. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 3, 2014
4/5 81% Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014) It's sweet-natured and amusing, with a story to captivate kids; yet the script has enough witty touches to keep adults laughing too. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 5, 2014
3/5 94% Her (2013) Her is a strikingly inventive work, and Jonze (who also wrote its script) once again shows his flair for approaching big ideas from oblique angles. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jan 10, 2014
4/5 91% Guys and Dolls (1955) Brando wasn't producer Sam Goldwyn's first choice as Sky (that was Gene Kelly) but he acquits himself outstandingly. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Dec 24, 2013
4/5 79% Saving Mr. Banks (2013) Smart, witty entertainment. Job done. Spit spot. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 21, 2013
4/5 No Score Yet Very Extremely Dangerous (2012) Can such a lost soul ever be redeemed? Duane skilfully leaves it to the end to suggest an answer. This is eerily watchable ... - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 17, 2013
1/5 31% Not Another Happy Ending (2013) The film's ending was indeed a happy moment, but not in the intended manner. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 11, 2013
4/5 100% Which Way Is the Front Line from Here? The Life and Times of Tim Hetherington (2013) One imagines the charismatic Hetherington, once met, would be unforgettable: Junger's film is a decent, heartfelt tribute. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 10, 2013
4/5 100% Camp 14: Total Control Zone (2012) Director Wiese, proceeding at a cautious pace, gleans one horrific fact of life in Camp 14 after another. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2013
2/5 93% The Pervert's Guide To Ideology (2013) There are those who find iek a delight; but well before the two-hour mark, one feels he has delighted us long enough. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2013
2/5 79% Metallica Through the Never (2013) This is a lame shaggy-dog narrative, and there's no one to blame but Metallica, who authorised Through the Never and take producing and writing credits. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Oct 3, 2013
4/5 93% Captain Phillips (2013) Paul Greengrass has the rare gift of working with action-thriller material and making something cohesive, layered and complex from it. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 29, 2013
4/5 62% Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) With the magnificent Elba to anchor it, the film gradually achieves a sort of grandeur, in the manner of the hero it depicts. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 20, 2013
3/5 85% Hawking (2013) It marshals its facts thoughtfully, and makes a decent stab at presenting a whole man - flawed yet unique. On its own terms, as a modest Brief History, it's fascinating. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 19, 2013
1/5 13% R.I.P.D. (2013) It's billed as a supernatural action-adventure comedy, but its laughs are almost non-existent, its action depends on seen-it-all-before CGI trickery and much of its plot defies comprehension. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 19, 2013
100% The Big Risk (Classe tous risques) (1960) Never wastes a minute of your time, right up to its abrupt ending: this is condensed, intense story-telling that never once loosens its grip. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2013
3/5 81% 42 (2013) Boseman gives Robinson personal self-assurance to match his physical confidence; and it's enjoyable to watch Ford stretching into a character role as the stubborn, shrewd but good-hearted Rickey. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2013
4/5 92% In a World... (2013) It's tempting to call In A World... one of the best romantic comedies of the year, but that would short-change it - a romcom counts for about 20 per cent of all it is. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2013
4/5 70% El artista y la modelo (The Artist and the Model) (2013) This is a slim story but a tranquil, beautiful piece of work. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2013
1/5 77% Borrowed Time (2012) It's a mess through and through. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2013
3/5 100% The Stuart Hall Project (2013) It's a rare and welcome film that devotes itself to the life of a British public intellectual, especially a man as intriguing as Hall. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 6, 2013
2/5 7% Diana (2013) It's hardly fascinating. It doesn't offer new facts about the Princess's life. And it certainly doesn't explain her complexity or contradictions. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2013
4/5 89% The Great Hip Hop Hoax (2013) A smart morality tale about the illusory nature of celebrity, and the pressures it exerts once attained. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2013
4/5 77% Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013) Lowery's film has a solid, grounded storyline, rooted in crime thrillers and film noir tradition. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2013
2/5 58% Jadoo (2013) The story may not engage the mind, but your saliva glands will be working overtime. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2013
3/5 100% More Than Honey (2013) Elegant, handsomely shot and often instructive, and its remarkable extended close-up sequences of bees' social structure are fascinating. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 5, 2013
4/5 89% Rush (2013) Rush breaks the mould; its racing scenes are thrilling, and the personal dynamics in the pits and away from the track genuinely intriguing. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Sep 3, 2013
4/5 83% The Way Way Back (2013) Warm, funny - and even fresh. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 29, 2013
4/5 87% What Maisie Knew (2013) Handsomely shot and stopping just short of cloying sentiment, this is an accomplished, engaging work. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2013
3/5 53% Lovelace (2013) Lovelace tells a difficult story creditably, yet its period detail has the effect of distancing the story, and its heroine remains an enigma ... - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2013
4/5 91% Jurassic Park (1993) A thrill ride worthy of a real-life amusement park. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Aug 22, 2013
3/5 83% Google and the World Brain (2013) In a brisk 89 minutes, the argument gets a thorough, workmanlike airing. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 14, 2013
3/5 83% Pussy Riot- - A Punk Prayer (2013) With its fast pace and its enviable access to the key players, it has a light on-its-feet quality reminiscent of news journalism. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 13, 2013
4/5 86% Much Ado About Nothing (2013) Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing is a delight - agreeable, amusing and played with knowing charm. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 13, 2013
3/5 52% Thérèse (2013) While Tautou's delicate restraint as Thérèse is admirable, the vagueness of her character's disquiet becomes an irritation. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 6, 2013
4/5 76% The Stone Roses: Made of Stone (2013) Meadows sustains a ragged feel, allowing the rhythms of shooting and editing to parallel the band's visceral appeal. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Jun 6, 2013
3/5 97% Mud (2013) It's a lovely, coherent piece of storytelling, with a unique sense of place. Nichols has carved out a niche as a distinctive film-maker. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 28, 2013
4/5 97% Muscle Shoals (2013) Overall, it's joyous, uplifting - and as funky as the music at its heart. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 25, 2013
4/5 86% Upstream Color (2013) My immediate desire when it ended was to stay in my seat and watch it all the way through again. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Apr 25, 2013
3/5 86% Robot & Frank (2012) Here's a film with a premise that could have played horrendously in the wrong hands. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 7, 2013
2/5 63% Broken (2013) It feels relentlessly miserable and shocking - as if all the most lurid events in two decades of Brookside had been squeezed into 90 minutes. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 7, 2013
3/5 76% The Bay (2012) Gruesome but oddly riveting. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 1, 2013
3/5 91% Sleep Tight (2012) Wildly malevolent, but shrewdly executed and creepily watchable. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Mar 1, 2013
1/5 14% Safe Haven (2013) Almost nothing happens for long stretches before a plot "twist" so obvious that only the dull-witted could fail to see it coming. - Daily Telegraph (UK) EDIT
Read More | Posted Feb 28, 2013