Dear Reader: Update, Movie Review Intelligence will discontinue
publishing this website at the end of May (more...)
Search a Movie:
ALL ABOUT STEVEMovie Reviews
Romantic comedy about a crossword-puzzle creator who, smitten, trails a CNN cameraman working a series of media events around the country. Cast:Sandra Bullock, Bradley Cooper, Thomas Haden ChurchDirector:Phil TraillRelease Date:September 4, 2009DVD Release:December 22, 2009From:20th Century FoxRating:PG-13Length:1 hr. 39 min.
All About Steve played to poor reviews. • Lisa Schwarzbaum wrote in the Entertainment Weekly, "...a creepy, humiliating 'comedy,' playing to Bullock's worst instincts for demonstrating the lovability of women who don't fit in." • And Moira Macdonald wrote in the Seattle Times, "...a well-meaning disaster, and yet another strange career choice for Sandra Bullock. Fasten your seat belts; this one's a bumpy ride." More Reviews Below...
All About Steve Positive Reviews (37 Reviews, reviews below)
Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: POOR(cg) "...a creepy, humiliating 'comedy,' playing to Bullock's worst instincts for demonstrating the lovability of women who don't fit in."(See all of Lisa Schwarzbaum's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 107 words, 09/04/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: WEAK(cg) "Amid her jabber, Mary reveals that she can apologize in 17 different languages. Perhaps the filmmakers owe us a simple one in English."(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 446 words, 09/04/09
get our iPhone app... or get our mobile web app...
movie review intelligence
NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (11 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: POOR "...the concept of an intelligent woman is apparently so exotic to Ms. Bullock and her director, Phil Traill, that they frantically kook the character up, as if female smarts were a kind of disability."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 661 words, 09/04/09
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: WEAK(cg) "An actress should never, ever, be asked to run beside a van in red disco boots for more than about half a block, and then only if her child is being kidnapped."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 595 words, 09/03/09
Kyle Smith, New York Post: POOR(cg) "You've got a problem when a cheap title pun turns out to be the closest thing to funny in your movie.... grotesquely unfunny..."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 461 words, 09/04/09
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: WEAK(cg) "There's nothing wrong with 'All About Steve' that a rewrite couldn't fix, as long as the rewrite involved a different writer, a different character and a different story."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 09/04/09
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: VERY GOOD(cg) "...a snappy, by-the-numbers road comedy, the significant difference being a bright female hero as opposed to the social-misfit male who typically inhabits such movies."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 680 words, 09/04/09
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...takes unexpected turns and delivers several laugh-out-loud one-liners and sight gags that work more because they're surprising than brilliantly original."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 09/03/09
KEY CITIES (15 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "...offensive and insufferable... a meandering, nonsensical story, Bullock isn't credible for one minute... by turns cruel and unusual... culminates in a dreadful climax."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 667 words, 09/04/09
Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle/San Francisco Chronicle: POOR(cg) "...after just a few minutes with Mary, I wanted to steal the poor woman's shiny red footwear and use it to dropkick her straight back to the trash heap of bad movie ideas."(See all of Amy Biancolli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 583 words, 09/04/09
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: WEAK(cg) "There's a hostage crisis in an Old West tourist town, a baby born with three legs, wild weather in Texas, and so on..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 425 words, 09/04/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: POOR(cg) "...easily the worst movie of the week, month, year, and Bullock's entire career. It is to comedy what leprosy once was to the island of Molokai: a plague best contemplated from many miles away."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 442 words, 09/04/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "I disliked Mary, disliked the movie, disliked Bullock's preposterous performance. But such is the power of her charisma that I couldn't blame her.... That, my friends, is a star."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 618 words, 09/04/09
Clint O'Connor, Cleveland Plain-Dealer: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the best puzzles must achieve three crucial criteria: be solvable, be entertaining, and sparkle. Bullock, as both co-producer and star, makes sure 'All About Steve' sparkles with easy laughs."(See all of Clint O'Connor's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 486 words, 09/04/09
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: MODERATE(cg) "With its commercial imperatives and subversive ambitions working at cross purposes, this puzzling movie doesn't have a clue what it's all about."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 399 words, 09/04/09
Steve Spears, St. Petersburg Times: EXCELLENT(cg) "By resisting the urge to be another stereotypical romantic comedy, it excels by being exactly what it is not: normal."(See all of Steve Spears's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 616 words, 09/03/09
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: POOR(cg) "Mary appears to be emotionally handicapped in a way that's neither cute nor charming and would be worrisome if you were her friend. Though you wouldn't be."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 479 words, 09/04/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: POOR(cg) "...settles swiftly into inept crazy comedy... Bullock looks as bland and thin as a bleached pretzel stick and acts as if she were starring in a medical cartoon about logorrhea."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 667 words, 09/04/09
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "By keeping us guessing whether finding Mr. Right is the moral, the movie remains a cut above romantic-comedy hooey like 'The Ugly Truth.' "(See all of Lisa Kennedy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 506 words, 09/04/09
Andrew Dowler, Toronto Now: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...takes unexpected turns and delivers several laugh-out-loud one-liners and sight gags that work more because they're surprising than brilliantly original."(See all of Andrew Dowler's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 188 words, 09/03/09
HIGHBROW PRESS (3 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: POOR "...the concept of an intelligent woman is apparently so exotic to Ms. Bullock and her director, Phil Traill, that they frantically kook the character up, as if female smarts were a kind of disability."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 661 words, 09/04/09
Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: POOR "We are apparently meant to think that Mary's gaucheries, her twitchy oddness, are a professional hazard. In fact they seem like a pathology.... inane."(See all of Joanne Kaufman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 261 words, 09/04/09
Brian Lowry, Daily Variety: POOR "Misfiring on every conceivable front... stabs at humor fall painfully flat, while eliciting unintentional giggles every time the film seeks to be serious or deliver a message (which it actually does)."(See all of Brian Lowry's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 656 words, 09/04/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: POOR "...the concept of an intelligent woman is apparently so exotic to Ms. Bullock and her director, Phil Traill, that they frantically kook the character up, as if female smarts were a kind of disability."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 661 words, 09/04/09
Joanne Kaufman, Wall Street Journal: POOR "We are apparently meant to think that Mary's gaucheries, her twitchy oddness, are a professional hazard. In fact they seem like a pathology.... inane."(See all of Joanne Kaufman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 261 words, 09/04/09
29.0 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
All About Steve's reviews are separated by an average 29.0 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
All About Steve (37 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:All About Steve's reviews cover 67.0% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 15,753 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 426 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
All About Steve Coverage, Volume & Length (37 Reviews, reviews below)
Reviews Broke 36.6 Hours After Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
All About Steve's reviews on average broke 36.6 hours after opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is All About Steve's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
All About Steve (37 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
Mobile Web App version 1.2 shows a list of all current movies and review information. You can click through to the cast, director, synopsis, release date and rating on page two, plus individual reviews on page three. The information is updated on a live/real-time basis. You can also search our database of films. Designed for when you're on the move and want the latest info, this app will work on any mobile web browser. From your mobile device -- only from a mobile device -- open our Mobile Web App here...
