Movies Critics Hate but Audiences Love Now Streaming

In this comedy-drama, an aspiring musician played by Piper Perabo goes to New York and becomes a celebrity bartender at a hotspot called Coyote Ugly, where the female employees dance on the bar, flirt with customers, and do shots with them. The Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus said the film “has a trashy energy and undeniable aesthetic appeal.” It holds a 23% Freshness score among critics. Among almost 700,000 audience users, 71% enjoyed the movie.

Comedian Dave Chapelle co-wrote and stars in this stoner comedy about three friends working together to bail their buddy out of jail. While only 29% of critics delivered positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes — the site refers to it as a “half baked production” with a “scattershot sense of humor” — 81% of audience members enjoyed it. The movie was also a financial success, grossing more than $17 million at the domestic box office against an estimated budget of $8 million.

Sean Penn received his third Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of a mentally challenged man fighting for legal custody of his 7-year-old daughter. In the process he also teaches different people, including his lawyer, the importance of family. Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes found the film “manipulative” and that it oversimplified a complex issue. “I Am Sam” holds just a 35% Freshness rating among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, though 87% of more than 300,000 Rotten Tomatoes audience users liked the movie.

Seth Green, Matthew Lillard, and Dax Shepard star as three friends who embark on a disastrous canoe trip in this PG-13 rated comedy from director Steven Brill, who has collaborated extensively with Adam Sandler. A mere 14% of critics liked the movie on Rotten Tomatoes, with Village Voice’s Mark Holcomb comparing its leading men to “a cut-rate Three Stooges.” Audiences delivered an overall approval rating of 68% with more than 400,000 votes cast.

The reboot of the 1960s family comedy stars Dennis Quaid and Rene Russo as parents of a blended family of 18 children. Critics were unsparing in their assessment of the film, calling it an “asinine remake” with “no fresh insight or genuine laugh in sight.” Little wonder it has a 6% Freshness score among Rotten Tomatoes critics. Audiences were more forgiving, with 51% of almost 400,000 Rotten Tomatoes users approving the film.

Most critics and audience members agreed on the merits of the original “Dirty Dancing” (1987), which holds a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 90%. Critics fled from the prequel, “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights,” finding it “trite and unnecessary.” However, a substantial 73% of audience members on Rotten Tomatoes enjoyed the movie’s Cuban flavor.

This early film in Channing Tatum’s career about a troublemaker who gets the chance to pursue a career in dance is a hit with fans, receiving an average 83% positive reviews among the more than 615,000 viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes did not agree, with only 21% giving it a Freshness score. Critics like Judy Chia Hui Hsu of the Seattle Times opined that “‘Step Up’ may sizzle on the dance floor, but when the dancing stops, the film fizzles.”

Whereas 78% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes liked the original “Friday” (1995), only 22% approved of the sequel “Next Friday” (2000). In the follow-up film, rap star Ice Cube’s penchant for getting into trouble follows him to the suburbs, where he visits a cousin and uncle who had won the lottery. The site’s Critics Consensus said the “messy and plotless” film “lacks the fun of the original.” Audiences’ opinions differed, with 76% of almost 182,000 users liking “Next Friday.”

Teen favorite Hilary Duff stars in this rom-com about a single mother (Heather Locklear) who gets romantic emails from a secret admirer, who is actually her daughter trying to lift her spirits. Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes says the film is “preposterous and predictable” with “cookie-cutter characters and contrived plotting.” Just 6% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a Freshness score. Of the nearly 282,000 users on the site, 58% approved of the film.

In contrast to the series of original shorts from the 1930s’ “Our Gang” and “Little Rascals” comedies, the 1994 offering was a full-length film helmed by “Wayne’s World” director Penelope Spheeris. Based on critics’ opinions, moviegoers are unlikely to forget the original shorts. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a Freshness rating of 23%. “A dismal kids’ comedy in which all creativity stopped after casting lookalikes for the old rascals’ was completed,” wrote Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune. The film managed a 70% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Only 15% of critics reported liking “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry,” with Time Out’s Stephen Garrett going as far as to call it a “mortifying would-be comedy.” The flick stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James as two heterosexual firefighters who feign being gay in order to enjoy the legal benefits. Audiences were less put off by the concept, and 69% of the more than 1.3 million users who rated the film on Rotten Tomatoes reported liking it. The movie grossed more than $187 million worldwide.

Despite a cast led by Oscar nominees Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey, and despite being nominated for a Best Art Direction Oscar, critics had a lukewarm reaction to this meditation on female friendship with only 39% of those reviewing it on Rotten Tomatoes liking it. Yet 88% of audience members enjoyed the film. Director Garry Marshall followed “Beaches” with another fan favorite in 1990: “Pretty Woman.”

In the sequel to the warmly received “Sister Act,” Whoopi Goldberg reprises her role as the lounge singer masquerading as a nun. This time, she is asked to shape up a music program for an inner-city school. Despite reuniting a stellar cast that includes Kathy Najimy, Maggie Smith, and Mary Wickes, and the addition of singer Lauryn Hill, the Sister Act sequel was a dud with critics. Only 17% gave it a Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Roger Ebert, writing in the Chicago Sun-Times, dismissed the sequel as a “dreary retread.” Audiences, however, were still amused by the sequel, giving it a 61% score.

Razzie-award nominee “The Benchwarmers” is a story about three guys who strike back against bullies by forming a three-man baseball team to take on youth teams. Described as a sophomoric, gross-out comedy starring David Spade, Rob Schneider (“Saturday Night Live”) and Jon Heder (“Napoleon Dynamite”), it grossed almost $60 million domestically despite receiving an 11% Freshness rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences said the movie had its funny moments and gave it a score of 64%.

David Spade vehicle “Joe Dirt” received scathing reviews from critics, with only 11% giving the movie about a mullet-sporting redneck a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes. While audiences weren’t over the moon about the film, they rated it a respectable 6.0 out of 10 on IMDb, and 63% gave it a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes. There was enough interest in the movie to warrant a 2015 sequel: “Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser.”

The Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes found “The Boondock Saints” — about two brothers from Boston out to do God’s will by killing criminals — to be a “juvenile, ugly movie that represents the worst tendencies of directors channeling Tarantino.” Only 25% of critics gave it a positive review, with most finding it idiotic and immoral. Audiences using Rotten Tomatoes begged to differ, with 91% of the more than 335,000 users reviews approving of the film. It also has a rating of 7.8 out of 10 on IMDb.

Based on a well-known “Saturday Night Live” sketch, “A Night at the Roxbury” stars SNL members Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell as head-bobbing, dim-witted brothers in love with the night life. Unfortunately, the critics weren’t in love with the movie, with Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus noting its “one-note characters and plots unreasonably stretched to feature length runtime.” Only 11% of the critics on the site liked the movie, compared with 69% of nearly 363,000 audience members. The film managed to turn a profit, grossing more than $30 million domestically on a budget of $17 million.

Hilary Duff was a major star among pre-teen girls in the early part of this century, starring in the hit Disney Channel series “Lizzie McGuire.” In “Raise Your Voice,” Duff plays a teen singer with ambitions to make a name for herself. Duff’s legion of fans no doubt helped boost the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes to 71%. Critics, however, were not charmed by the movie, dismissing it as a bland and formulaic version of the film “Fame” (1980), and giving it a Freshness rating of 15%.

Diane Keaton stars as a meddling mother who tries to keep her daughter from making the mistakes she made. The Critics Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes says that “Because I Said So” is “an unfunny, cliche-ridden mess.” Richard Roeper of Ebert & Roeper thought it was “the worst performance of Diane Keaton’s career.” Keaton, who won a Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Annie Hall,” was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in “Because I Said So.” Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie just a 4% Freshness rating. Audiences were more kind to Keaton and the film, giving it a score of 65%.

This faith-based film from ordained minister Alex Kendrick about God and football was off-putting to critics who dismissed it as “banal” and “insipid” and gave it just a 13% Freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Jeff Strickler of the Minneapolis Star Tribune said the “proselytizing in this football movie is about as subtle as a blindside hit by a 300-pound defensive end.” Audiences gave it an 85% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with one viewer likening it to a Christian version of “Remember the Titans.”

Filmmaker Tyler Perry has starred in numerous critically acclaimed movies, including “Star Trek” (2009) and “Gone Girl” (2014). He has had a more difficult time receiving good reviews for his comedies — such as the numerous Madea movies — many of which he has written himself. “Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” which received only 16% positive reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, is another example. Rotten Tomatoes users, however, blessed the film with a score of 87%.

Adam Sandler-produced “Grandma’s Boy” — about a pot-smoking video-game tester who moves in with his beloved grandmother — has something of a cult following among those whom critic Nathan Rabin refers to as “slackers and stoners.” These fans helped deliver an 85% approval rating from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. The site’s Critics Consensus, however, describes the movie as “a gross-out comedy that’s more gross than comedic” and as being “lazy and unrewarding.”

This PG-13 gross-out comedy about a group of snowboarders trying to prevent their beloved mountain from being converted into a yuppified ski resort was despised by critics, only 8% of whom gave it a positive review, according to Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences had fun with the lowbrow flick’s “gross-out humor and sophomoric plot,” however, with 84% giving it a positive review on the same site. Eventual comedy film star Zach Galifianakis makes an early-career appearance in the movie.

“Grind,” about four skateboarders seeking success on a summer tour, got a thumbs-up from just 8% of cinema tastemakers on Rotten Tomatoes. Poor reviews may have affected its performance at the box office, where it failed to earn back its $6 million budget. Ben Nuckols of the Associated Press said the movie was a “wan attempt to transpose the sports-movie formula onto the extreme-sports scene.” Audience reviews were relatively positive, however, with 79% of audience users approving of the film.

“Drop Dead Fred” follows a young woman, Elizabeth Cronin (Phoebe Cates), as she reconnects with her imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall). The movie received positive reviews from merely 9% of critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with Gene Siskel calling it “easily one of the worst films [he’d] ever seen.” A much higher 77% of nearly 200,000 users gave it a positive review on Rotten Tomatoes, and IMDb users rated it 6.0 out of 10. The movie grossed approximately double its estimated $6.8 million budget at the box office.