What's Wrong With The Movie Critics? What Exactly Is Their Problem?

Have you ever watched a movie that you thought cannot be possibly adjudged as even 'average' by a normal moviegoer, that it is perhaps one of the better movies of its genre, or that it is one of the best works of the director, only to find out that the movie is bashed big time by the critics! All the film industries are full of such examples. A little digging revealed that movies like 'Milk' or 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' were not so liked by the masses, but were loved by the critics. On the other hand, we all loved Inception, or even Home Alone, but critics have had just too many reservations about the likability of these movies. (Home Alone has a rating of 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning that only 47% of the people found it fresh, or loved it!)


IMDB and RottenTomatoes are full of such movies. Critics loved Dr. Strangelove, or Rear Window, and even Life of Brian. But after watching these movies, we were forced to think- "there are better movies out there which deserved a better imdb rating".  On the other side, critics hated Hook, Equilibrium and even The Godfather III, and we hated them for it!

Critics have often been ridiculed and thrashed as irrelevant, over-smart, and arrogant. Their reviews are often termed as less of scholarly criticism, and more of tabloid journalism to fool the ignorant! But their side of the story is often unheard, which also directly leads us to the answer to our moot question "Why do critics love some, and hate other movies?". Its because they've seen a lot, and know TOO MUCH about movies!

Lets take an example of a doctor. When we meet a person, who seems like at the pink of his health, we seem to ignore probably his occasional coughing, or even his regular hair fall. But its not the same with the doctors. They'll probably catch all these (occasional) problems the moment they notice it, and can relate each one to another (Eg. hair fall because of stress, coughing because you probably had something cold yesterday). But we, while meeting the same person will say "Wow! You sure are looking fitter and smarter!"

That's the problem with movie critics. They know just too much about the movies. And not all of them are fun to analyze! The critics look for good plotting, story-telling, acting, scripting etc. This is where there is a disconnect between an average moviegoer and the critics. Both of them should be seen as two school of thoughts, and complimenting each other.

Critics also tend to over-analyze the movies. To the extent that it's really difficult for them to rate a movie as brilliant. Jeff Stibel, CEO of Dun & Bradstreet, put this point succinctly in an article on analysis-paralysis:

"Decisions are destroyed by over-analysis... The more information you pile on, the less likely you are to make educated guesses. But educated guesses spring from wisdom: all of your past experiences, knowledge and knowhow, coupled with the most recent information and analysis. In other words, wisdom comes from your gut." 


True, such analysis-es help critics distinguish between 'good' and 'enjoyable'. While the latter do not always earn accolades from the critics, the former is recognized and is rated higher by the critics. But this is where the critics find themselves getting disassociated with the masses. And no wonder the masses hate them for it.

In a way i feel sorry for critics. They miss out on the fun of grabbing a popcorn bucket, a medium Pepsi and sitting back and enjoying a film. Sadly, what they look for is weak plotting, outdated story-telling or mediocre performances. And end up ruining their movie-watching experiences!