US Weekly’s review of “Get Carter” appears in their Oct. 23, 2000 issue. “Get Carter” received a rating of 2 1/2 stars (out of four possible) with the reviewer saying that:
“…Get Carter isn’t really half bad…”
“…(Get) Carter is fairly atmospheric and introspective…”
“… director Stephen Kay’s artsy touches provide a strong sense of place…”
The reviewer further compliments the “subtlety and poignancy of the scenes between Carter (STALLONE) and his niece (RACHEL LEIGH COOK)…”
“… this is one STALLONE movie that’s interesting because of, and not despite, its star.”
Let’s now remember that “Get Carter” wasn’t given to critics for pre-release review with the implication being that pre-release reviews would only hurt “Get Carter” at the box office. Had the US Weekly review run the opening week, potential “GC” audience members would have read that “GC”:
- received an overall 2 1/2 stars rating which is ABOVE AVERAGE
- that it was praised for being introspective and poignant
- that the director had been singled out for praise
- that STALLONE and RACHEL LEIGH COOK were singled out for praise
- that STALLONE was given special praise indicating that his performance really helped to carry the movie.
Don’t you think that these two factors would have been enough to convince more fans to give it a try?
I do.
Also consider that since “Get Carter” opened last week not as much space was given to the review this week. It received about 1/3 or 1/4 of a page with a small picture. “Dr. T and the Women,” which opened this week received the same 2 1/2 star review BUT got a FULL page (including a 1/2 page picture).
Same rating but which movie will benefit most?
BTW – There’s a small picture of SLY as Rocky which also appears in the issue in a section called “Heavy Hitters” which features 8 pictures of actors/actresses who’ve played boxers in movies.
- Craig Zablo (October 14, 2000)