Joe Leydon
Tomatometer-approved critic
Publications:
Variety,
Houston Chronicle,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com,
San Francisco Examiner,
The Moving Picture Show,
MSNBC,
Film Scouts,
Cowboys & Indians Magazine,
The Times (Shreveport, LA),
The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, MS)
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)
94%
“Star Wars is for anyone who ever worried about Dorothy on the Yellow Brick Road, who ever cheered Errol Flynn as he battled Basil Rathbone, who ever believed in the magic of movies. Star Wars is a masterpiece. ” –
The Times (Shreveport, LA)
Apr 22, 2025
Full Review
Remaining Native (2025)
“Director Paige Bethman’s film succeeds as both an inspiring coming-of-age story and impactful history lesson.” –
Variety
Mar 28, 2025
Full Review
Last Take: Rust and the Story of Halyna (2025)
83%
“Director Rachel Mason’s Hulu documentary about her late friend is evenhanded and impactful in its pursuit of truth beyond tabloid headlines.” –
Variety
Mar 12, 2025
Full Review
The Comeback Trail (2020)
33%
“ I laughed unashamedly throughout the entire film. But your mileage may vary.” –
Variety
Mar 5, 2025
Full Review
Cold Wallet (2024)
66%
“A shrewd and suspenseful thriller about three would-be working-class vigilantes determined to retrieve their investments from an amoral scammer.” –
Variety
Feb 28, 2025
Full Review
Green and Gold (2025)
67%
“Very little of what happens in “Green and Gold” can accurately be described as surprising.” –
Variety
Feb 1, 2025
Full Review
Free Leonard Peltier (2025)
“Directors Jesse Short Bull (“Lakota Nation vs. the United States”) and David France (“Welcome to Chechnya”) methodically fashion a potent history lesson that also is a compelling and complete portrait of Peltier.” –
Variety
Jan 28, 2025
Full Review
Brave the Dark (2023)
74%
“A low-key inspirational indie that sensitively elicits empathy and sympathy without ever pushing too hard or simplifying complexities.” –
Variety
Jan 24, 2025
Full Review
The Critic (2023)
52%
“Ian McKellen balances desperation and laughs in this splendid mix of bitchy mirth and melodrama.” –
Variety
Jan 14, 2025
Full Review
The Performance (2024)
70%
“Director Shira Piven’s impressive adaptation and expansion of a 2002 Arthur Miller short story offers timely observations about manipulating masses.” –
Variety
Jan 9, 2025
Full Review
Homestead (2024)
46%
“Impressive performances and production value enable Ben Smallbone’s indie thriller to generate a substantial amount of suspense.” –
Variety
Dec 20, 2024
Full Review
Missing from Fire Trail Road (2024)
100%
“A dark cloud of melancholy and despondency hangs over “Missing From Fire Trail Road” — and not just figuratively.” –
Variety
Dec 9, 2024
Full Review
Sabrina (1995)
61%
“The new "Sabrina" is an enchanting romantic comedy with the magic of a fairy tale, but also with the poignance of a broken heart.” –
The Moving Picture Show
Nov 27, 2024
Full Review
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (2024)
67%
“Dassler shrewdly portrays Bonhoeffer with carefully calibrated measures of zeal, sincerity, boldness and, on occasion, terror.” –
Variety
Nov 22, 2024
Full Review
Lost on a Mountain in Maine (2024)
53%
“Despite its predictability and stretches of pokey pacing, director Andrew Boodhoo Kightlinger’s drama remains engrossing throughout.” –
Variety
Nov 1, 2024
Full Review
Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid (2024)
100%
“It helps a lot that “Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid” intersperses scenes depicting the high drama of the 2024 presidential race with the relentless evolution of Carville from political neophyte to indefatigable kingmaker.” –
Variety
Oct 12, 2024
Full Review
Rez Ball (2024)
94%
“Cheers to a game well played by hall-of-fame-level players on both sides of the camera.” –
Cowboys & Indians Magazine
Sep 8, 2024
Full Review
Going Varsity in Mariachi (2023)
94%
“This engaging and entertaining documentary about Texas high-schoolers playing for keeps in statewide mariachi band competitions has the right stuff to delight even viewers who normally wouldn’t know the difference between a grito and a guitarrón.” –
Variety
Aug 30, 2024
Full Review
Reagan (2024)
18%
“There is a great deal more hagiography than history in “Reagan,” a worshipful biopic of the 40th U.S. President that often plays like the cinematic equivalent of CliffsNotes.” –
Variety
Aug 29, 2024
Full Review
Crescent City (2024)
14%
“Blockbuster store shelves used to be overburdened to the point of near-collapse with unremarkable trifles such as this.” –
Variety
Aug 16, 2024
Full Review
Heart Strings (2024)
“For all the offkey moments in this passably pleasant but utterly predictable indie, even some of the clichés resound with a faint but perceptible ring of truth.” –
Variety
Jul 1, 2024
Full Review
Kalki 2898 AD (2024)
77%
“[A] wildly uneven mashup of everything from Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” to Marvel Comics movies, underpinned by elements from the Hindu epic poem “Mahabharata.”” –
Variety
Jun 29, 2024
Full Review
Ride (2024)
71%
“C. Thomas Howell and Forrie J. Smith give stand-out performances in director and star Jake Allyn’s suspenseful indie production.” –
Variety
Jun 14, 2024
Full Review
Sight (2023)
76%
“For all its predictability, “Sight” has a few surprises up its sleeve, especially when Wang discovers there’s more than one way to measure success or failure.” –
Variety
May 24, 2024
Full Review
The Postman (1997)
14%
“In synopsis, The Postman may sound like a blueprint for a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch. On screen, however, the weirdly compelling plot, taken from a novel by David Brin, is all the more affecting for being played perfectly straight.” –
The Moving Picture Show
May 14, 2024
Full Review
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