Critically acclaimed movies of 2009

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans(2009)

Combined Rating:
80
Combined Critics Rating: 74

Terence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.



Funny People(2009)

Combined Rating:
81
Combined Critics Rating: 74

When seasoned comedian George Simmons learns of his terminal, inoperable health condition, his desire to form a genuine friendship causes him to take a relatively green performer under his wing as his opening act.



The Soloist(2009)

Combined Rating:
78
Combined Critics Rating: 74

A Los Angeles journalist befriends a homeless Juilliard-trained musician, while looking for a new article for the paper.



White Material(2009)

Combined Rating:
64
Combined Critics Rating: 74

Amidst turmoil and racial conflict in a Francophone African state, a white French woman fights for her coffee crop, her family and ultimately for her life.



Sherlock Holmes(2009)

Combined Rating:
82
Combined Critics Rating: 73

Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.



Youth in Revolt(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 73

While his trailer trash parents teeter on the edge of divorce, Nick Twisp sets his sights on dream girl Sheeni Saunders, hoping that she'll be the one to take away his virginity.



I Love You Phillip Morris(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 73

A cop turns con man once he comes out of the closet. Once imprisoned, he meets the second love of his life, whom he'll stop at nothing to be with.



Thirst(2009)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 73

Through a failed medical experiment, a priest is stricken with vampirism and is forced to abandon his ascetic ways.



Nowhere Boy(2009)

Combined Rating:
76
Combined Critics Rating: 73

A chronicle of John Lennon's first years, focused mainly in his adolescence and his relationship with his stern aunt Mimi, who raised him, and his absentee mother Julia, who re-entered his life at a crucial moment in his young life.



Darbareye Elly(2009)

Combined Rating:
76
Combined Critics Rating: 73

The mysterious disappearance of a kindergarten teacher during a picnic in the north of Iran is followed by a series of misadventures for her fellow travelers.



The Secret of Kells(2009)

Combined Rating:
75
Combined Critics Rating: 73

A young boy in a remote medieval outpost under siege from barbarian raids is beckoned to adventure when a celebrated master illuminator arrives with an ancient book, brimming with secret wisdom and powers.



The Young Victoria(2009)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 72

A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.



Monsters vs. Aliens(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 72

A woman transformed into a giant after she is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day becomes part of a team of monsters sent in by the U.S. government to defeat an alien mastermind trying to take over Earth.



The House of the Devil(2009)

Combined Rating:
75
Combined Critics Rating: 72

In 1983, financially struggling college student Samantha Hughes takes a strange babysitting job that coincides with a full lunar eclipse. She slowly realizes her clients harbor a terrifying secret, putting her life in mortal danger.



Cold Souls(2009)

Combined Rating:
67
Combined Critics Rating: 72

Paul is an actor who feels bogged down by his participation in a production of Chekov's play, Vanya.



La Nana(2009)

Combined Rating:
62
Combined Critics Rating: 72

A drama centered on a maid trying to hold on to her position after having served a family for 23 years.



The Invention of Lying(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 71

A comedy set in a world where no one has ever lied, until a writer seizes the opportunity for personal gain.



The Men Who Stare at Goats(2009)

Combined Rating:
79
Combined Critics Rating: 71

A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's New Earth Army, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions.



Away We Go(2009)

Combined Rating:
77
Combined Critics Rating: 71

A couple who is expecting their first child travel around the U.S. in order to find a perfect place to start their family. Along the way, they have misadventures and find fresh connections with an assortment of relatives and old friends who just might help them discover "home" on their own terms for the first time.



Ajami(2009)

Combined Rating:
62
Combined Critics Rating: 71

Ajami is the religiously mixed community of Muslims and Christians in Tel Aviv. These are five stories about the everyday life in Ajami.




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