Film review

• Voice/Point of View - A film review needs to engage the reader so it needs voice and personality. The writer often uses first person since they are the expert behind the review. Writers may insert humor here or sarcasm to give their writing voice.
• Plot Summary - This might seem obvious but a good film review will reveal the basic plot and give us information about the time and place of the film but also the main conflict. Most film reviews will avoid spoilers of course!
• Background Information: Film reviews often offer special tidbits on the making of the film, the source material for the film, and details about the director and the actors.
• Character Descriptions and Evaluation of Actors - Reviewers will often profile certain characters and comment on how this character is portrayed by a given actor. This is often an area where the reviewer will highlight particularly strong or weak performances by certain actors. Actors will sometimes be quoted in the process.
• Director Body of Work - Reviewers sometimes give information about the director’s other films and connect the film under review to the director’s previous film. Sometimes the director’s own comments will be quoted directly.
• Commentary on Cinematography/Music/Costumes - Reviewers will often evaluate the cinematic elements of the film that stand out especially the cinematography and the

  musical score to accompany the film. This again will offer evidence of a positive or negative review.
• Emotive language - If the reviewer likes and is recommending the film, look for words with positive connotations that capture those pleasant emotions. Conversely, if the reviewer does not like the film, look for emotive language that indicates their disappointment or dissatisfaction with the product.
• Evaluative language/Evaluative Points - It’s a review. Of course the reviewer needs to evaluate the film. Look for key words and sentences that evaluate the film and comment on quality. We want to look carefully at how the review evaluates the film. Film reviewers will often evaluate a film in terms of its entertainment value, its social value or

  relevance or its motivation.
• Comparisons: Films often are compared (favorably or unfavorably) to other films in the same genre. This gives the audience a reference point so they can decide whether the film is worthy of viewing.