10 Overrated Films of 2010

Let us begin our look back at the year in film with a token acknowledgment of ten films whose reputations may not have been entirely earned. For the record, not all of the films below are bad pictures. But they all generated critical and/or audience esteem that they perhaps did not entirely earn. There is nothing wrong with overpraising a good film. It often emanates from a hunger for quality that often causes we the critics to look at a merely solid and/or competent piece of cinema and hail it as a groundbreaking work of art. The following are in alphabetical order.

1 of 10

The Ghost Writer

1 of 11

First Slide

Previous Slide

@

The release of this film timed so conveniently with the arrest of director Roman Polanski that the reception of this film seemed to fall into two categories: "a triumphant thriller from a master artist" and/or "the new movie by that kiddie-rapist." Truth be told, the film is a well acted and genuinely old-fashioned would-be thriller. But far too much time is spent on the dull romance between Ewan McGregor and Olivia Williams, at the expense of Pierce Brosnan's terrific turn as "not Tony Blair." Furthermore, the climactic revelations are not bone-chilling, but rather silly and comforting. Like most conspiracy theories, it provided a more melodramatic and reassuring explanation behind the last ten years of British politics. Tony Blair wasn't really deceived/tricked/cajoled into following George W. Bush down the post-9/11 rabbit hole, was he? No, there is a far more sinister explanation afoot... right? The ideas offered are far more comforting than the notion that maybe, just maybe, Tony Blair agreed with George W. Bush. If you want a great thriller with Pierce Brosnan, check out The Tailor of Panama.

gadgets/slideshows/230508/slide_230508_1054845_small.jpg

'Prometheus' Paper Trailer And Other Spoof Teasers Online (VIDEO)

Queen's Jubilee Concert: Elton John, Paul McCartney, Shirley Bassey & Tom Jones On The Lineup

Coldplay, 'Princess Of China' Video: Rihanna & Chris Martin Are Stealthy Ninjas (VIDEO)

gadgets/slideshows/228057/slide_228057_1007956_small.jpg

Miss USA 2012, 'Call Me Maybe': Donald Trump And Contestants Sing Carly Rae Jepsen's Hit (VIDEO)

Lane Pryce, 'Mad Men': Season 5 Shocker Gets Fans Talking

Tintin Cover Sells For $1.6 Million At Auction

The release of this film timed so conveniently with the arrest of director Roman Polanski that the reception of this film seemed to fall into two categories: "a triumphant thriller from a master artist" and/or "the new movie by that kiddie-rapist." Truth be told, the film is a well acted and genuinely old-fashioned would-be thriller. But far too much time is spent on the dull romance between Ewan McGregor and Olivia Williams, at the expense of Pierce Brosnan's terrific turn as "not Tony Blair." Furthermore, the climactic revelations are not bone-chilling, but rather silly and comforting. Like most conspiracy theories, it provided a more melodramatic and reassuring explanation behind the last ten years of British politics. Tony Blair wasn't really deceived/tricked/cajoled into following George W. Bush down the post-9/11 rabbit hole, was he? No, there is a far more sinister explanation afoot... right? The ideas offered are far more comforting than the notion that maybe, just maybe, Tony Blair agreed with George W. Bush. If you want a great thriller with Pierce Brosnan, check out The Tailor of Panama.

comments(580)

featured comment

Reply | Share

Lancelot Mallia said on 29 Wednesday 2010 am31 1:00 am: Thats sort of pretentious. I don't keep track of film critics, I work in the industry, well New Orleans. I am a total film-buff, I tend to stay away from thinking about film critics since the only thing I worry about is the audience.

Total comments: 580 | Post a Comment

1 of 11

Rate This Slide

Rank #2  |  Average: 4

Deserved the Praise Completely Overrated

• 
  1
• 
  2
• 
  3
• 
  4
• 
  5
• 
  6
• 
  7
• 
  8
• 
  9
• 
  10

Top 5 Overrated Films

loading...

Top 5 Overrated Films

UserName

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Top User Slides

← Prev|Next →

 | Become a fan

Picked These as the Top 5 Slides in the Slideshow

loading...

Users who voted on this slide

← Prev|Next →

loading...

And that's the list for this year. Hopefully (if time allows), I'll crank out the year's most underrated films tomorrow. Feel free to share your picks for "the overrated" of 2010.

 

Follow Scott Mendelson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ScottMendelson

Comments

[vizi]

11:50 PM on 01/20/2011

agreed on a couple of his "cuts", but, you know what.....talk about a lame critic! the guy's stuck on comparisons and cliches.....in the "biz" he's a laughing stock.....lucky to get some space , dude!!

[robbo24]

03:54 PM on 01/18/2011

I have to agree with him on "Greenberg." I was really looking forward to seeing that movie, but I just did not care for it. (No disrespect to the film's fans.)

[Morganella]

10:44 PM on 01/16/2011

Finally, someone agrees with me about this movie. I am totally supportive of gay marriage and gay rights, and I thought that this would have been offensive to gay couples. Rather than going on and on about the things I didn't like about it, I will just say that I don't think that staying in a bad marriage , gay or straight, just because you are "too old to break up" is a very cute concept.

[MBryant]

08:37 PM on 01/16/2011

isn't that pretty much every film of 2010. It was a weak year, but come'on you can trash 'em all.
Inception and Social Network were the pick - all the rest is just litter...

[DazedandConfused]

04:00 PM on 01/16/2011

Thank you for including "Inception" on your list. You obviously like the movie; it's just not as great as the hype. For me, I thought it was one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time (though I try not to see movies that I know I'll hate). This should have been a fascinating sci-fi movie, but it's really only an action movie. The dream extraction / inception construct is only a way to allow action scenes on multiple levels. Just like a video game. In fact, this movie is nothing more than a boring video game with Hollywood actors. And the snow chase scene (which Bond movie was that taken from?) was the "kicker" for me. It should have made me eject the DVD, but I waited until the end to see what I was missing. I didn't miss anything. Maybe it's all a dream. Or maybe Cobb is back with his kids. But who really cares???

[Xylem44]

06:34 AM on 01/17/2011

Totally agree with you on the snow scene. it was just too much.

[tcoatsworth]

10:25 PM on 01/02/2011

"But they all generated critical/and or audience esteem that they perhaps did not entirely earn". E.B. White and I both agree this is just bad writing.

[PorteyBoy]

09:28 PM on 01/02/2011

Yo! It's "The Kids Are All Right."

[Wolf Larsen]

08:18 PM on 01/02/2011

Thank you Scott for proving once again that being a film critic is a job with no qualifications.

[Demarcus Jackson]

10:04 PM on 01/08/2011

Agreed. I saw all of these films in 2010 and I really liked them all. I don't think any of them were overrated. So, I would have to strongly disagree with Mr. Mendelson.

[Bingo-Long]

12:26 AM on 01/17/2011

Watching ANY 10 "good/great/excellent" films & thinking none were overrated sounds like a set of too-low standards to me! (Of course, I hate everything, so pay me no mind...)

[tselby]

06:32 PM on 01/02/2011

Scott Mendelson one of the 10 most overrated film critics of the year.

[Tammy Smith]

06:13 PM on 01/02/2011

I like the "Dragon Tattoo" films. I think the critic was wrong there.

[grange]

09:50 AM on 01/17/2011

Me too

Noomi Rapace was incredible as Lisbet Salander.Love her.

[nolabels]

05:30 PM on 01/02/2011

I haven't seen too many of these movies (in due time) but I must admit that I was totally let down by Inception. People I trust to give good movie advice had me believing I was in for a total mindf..k. Instead, I found the whole thing utterly predictable. Although it was a little complicated, I never felt I had to struggle to hold all of the pieces together. That said, it was pretty badass and I do intend to watch it again; good - not great.

[jukesgrrl]

05:18 PM on 01/02/2011

I'm interested in the description of "a critical community that feels so starved for excellence that they will champion anything that's slightly above competent." That could be said about book and TV reviewers, too. But are they "starved" or are they merely overlooking truly good work because of their own inadequacies or because it is challenging and demands something of lazy audiences?

[Adam616]

04:47 PM on 01/02/2011

Wow: You left out "Paranormal Activity: 2."

[Rokgoo]

04:08 PM on 01/02/2011

I am mostly agree with these critics. But let face it, these movies are overrated because absence of good movies these days. Hollywood needs always to celebrate something.

[alaskan]

01:02 PM on 01/02/2011

I agree wholeheartedly about "The Kids Are Alright" and it's nice to finally read a rational and intelligent critique of that film.

Frankly, it was one of the very worst films I've ever seen in my life. The acting was stiff, the story was insulting and contrived, and the whole concept was HUGELY insulting to married gay couples. I can't believe anyone gave it a good review in the first place!?