About the Artistic-Entertainment Value (0-4 Stars) Rating

The Decent Films Guide rates films for artistic and entertainment value on a scale from four stars (superior) to zero stars or bomb (worthless).

As with all the ratings, the artistic-entertainment rating is an index of opinion, not a statement of fact or article of faith. Readers are encouraged to read the reviews critically and arrive at their own conclusions.

The star rating by itself doesn’t necessarily indicate whether a movie is recommended or non-recommended. Rather, it looks at the film’s merits as art and entertainment. The overall recommendability of a film is rated in the A–F letter grade, and depends both on artistic-entertainment value (the star rating) and also moral-spiritual value (the +4/-4 rating).

In general, the star ratings function much like the letter grades. Thus, **** roughly corresponds to an A, *** to a B, and so on, down to zero stars and F. However, depending on moral-spiritual factors, a *** film could be elevated into the A range or sink all the way to an F.

There are limits, though; the star rating does matter. A poorly made, unengaging film (say, *½ or below) just isn’t worth anyone’s time, no matter how exalted or inspiring its theme. And I have yet to see what I felt was a **** masterpiece entirely undone by poisonous moral-spiritual content.

This film is rated *½, meaning that in artistic-entertainment terms it is between mediocre and poor.

See other films rated *½ >