When one critic isn’t enough

A new movie might be billed as the “feel-good hit of the year” or be featured in ads that drip superlatives, but ticket prices being what they are, some potential viewers are seeking a wider (and perhaps more discerning) range of opinions before they lay their money down. One helpful source: www.metacritic.com, which compiles reviews from major film critics nationwide, assigns them numerical scores, then averages the grades to come up with a “metascore” for each film. Each film comes away with both a number and a page that entertainingly samples the praise and venom of the critics.

“Just trusting one reviewer is too risky,” says Marc Doyle, a co-founder of the site. “You don’t want to go into a movie blind.”

Other websites have hundreds of reviews, but Metacritic highlights the best-known reviewers from publications across the country, Doyle says. “We stick with the pros who are getting paid to do it.”

The site, which received 5.5 million page views from 675,000 visitors last October, also gives numerical ratings to CDs and games based on reviews. Doyle launched the site in 2001 with his sister Julie Doyle Roberts and Jason Dietz, all former attorneys. Their legal expertise has come in handy, Doyle says, especially in the user section, which critiques the critics and gives a separate user score. “Our user section is edited for profanity and libel, but we’ll post whatever’s postable.”

The difference between users and professional film critics demonstrates some stark contrasts, Doyle says. “ ‘Solaris’ did really well with the critics, but the users couldn’t stand it. The same with ‘Punch Drunk Love.’ ”

Critics’ favorites also tend to differ from those of Oscar voters, but this season, Doyle says, tastes just might converge. “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” was the best-reviewed film of the year according to the site’s numbers -- “27 out of the 42 critics in our survey gave it a perfect score, which is an overwhelming statistic.”

And should the film prevail in the voting, he adds, “it would be the first time in at least the last five years [the period that some version of Metacritic has been in existence] that the top film according to critics also receives the best picture Oscar.”

What else did the critics praise in 2003? Filling out the site’s top five best-reviewed films were: “Finding Nemo,” “The Son,” “Capturing the Friedmans” and “Sweet Sixteen.”

-- Michael T. Jarvis