5 Movies Roger Ebert Should’ve Gave 4 Stars (and Love)
Roger Ebert was one of the best movie critics of all time. His opinions were heard by everyone, including people in Hollywood. He was the most popular film critic but that doesn’t mean all his opinions were valid. Now there will be no “I hated this movie. Hated, hated, hated, hated, hated this movie. Hated it.” Instead, what should be I loved this movie. Love, love, love…You get the point.
He is known for giving out scores on a scale of 4 stars. There were a lot of great movies he gave 4 stars. The Godfather, Saving Private Ryan, Citizen Kane, Casablanca, etc. But some movies deserved to be on that list of his 4-star movies. Well, art is subjective but these are movies that most people would say is a 4-star movie. And there are rules, it has to be a movie everyone loves and it has to be a score that came from the man himself.
- Wall-E (2008)
Score: 3 1/2
Wall-E is a modern classic made by Pixar and Disney. This movie is a hit and still holds up to this day. It is a beautiful movie and tells a great story of a robot in a bad future setting. Now this movie may not have been Ebert’s forte but it was also one of the most highly praised movies in 2008. He also thought this movie would give some stimulating thoughts to children. Three and a half stars isn’t bad but it should be a full four stars if we’re being honest here.
2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
Score: 3 1/2
The sequel was better than the original and it did not get the 4-star treatment. Another genre that Ebert was most likely not into but Iron Man did get 4 stars so why not Terminator 2? Now nobody knows why it didn’t get 4 stars but maybe Ebert thought it was not on the same level as Citizen Kane. He praised the movie in his review and by looking at the score he liked it not hated it. But rarely do sequels do as good as their predecessors and in this instance, it did that so it should’ve got those 4 stars since it’s hard to be better than the first one.
3. Toy Story 3 (2010)
Score: 3
This movie was a perfect love story for all of those kids that have grown up. It tells a beautiful and emotional story. It was the perfect sendoff for Toy Story until Toy Story 4 came out. Not even a half was involved in the score, what? Ebert had some interesting comments like saying Ken is gay and Barbie is anorexic, and also saying that the toys are traumatized after the event that occurred. He also said that it lacked the eerie humanity that infused the earlier “Toy Story” sagas. But this movie got 4 stars from other folks just not Roger Ebert.
4. Jerry Maguire (1996)
Score: 3
You know what would complete me? If this movie got 4 starts. One of the best sports, romance movies ever doesn’t get it. This movie tells the story of a sports agent and it is the best since it’s relatable. A movie about struggles and overcoming them is just a great one to watch. Always appreciate a movie in which the underdog prevails. Something everyone thought Roger would love but he did, just no 4. Roger felt that the movie was doing too much and that should’ve done less than it did. Overall it’s a great movie, so show me the 4 stars.
5. Happy Gilmore (1996)
Score: 1 1/2
Now this movie got panned by critics but the audience loved it and that’s what movies are supposed to do. Especially comedies. This score is insulting and that’s no disrespect to Mr. Ebert but come on it’s a comedy and it’s not to be taken seriously since it is not a drama. Comedies are supposed to make the audience laugh and have a good time. This movie succeeded in that, even in modern times people still love this movie. That includes the author of this article. It is a classic and a career-defining movie for Adam Sandler. Mr. Ebert might not have understood the point of comedies just like other film critics. But in the audience’s hearts and minds, they know, just like the other movies on this list, that this movie is a 4-star classic.