"Getaway" is speeding along with dubious sort of perfection — 0% on Rotten Tomatoes — and if it keeps this up, it could challenge for the site’s worst-reviewed movie of all time.
With 55 reviews and counting as of late Thursday afternoon, the Ethan Hawke/Selena Gomez car-chase thriller, which opens Friday, is as rotten as it gets, with a big fat goose egg on the critics aggregator.
To be fair, that could change any moment: Reviews are still rolling in, and the site accepts them long after theatrical and homevideo release.
Also read: 'Getaway' Review: Too Fast & Too Furious Wild-Goose Car Chase
As Rotten Tomatoes Editor-in-Chief Matt Atchity explained to TheWrap, late-breaking contrarians have spoiled many a perfect score, and studios and filmmakers have been known to lobby to move on-the-fence reviews into the positive column – which sometimes works.
But as of this writing, the "Getaway" notices were unequivocally harsh. A sampling:
"An absolute travesty." – Bill Gibron, Film Racket
"Maybe the title isn’t a title, but an instruction: ‘Getaway,’ away from this movie, and fast." – Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
Also read: Study: Women Movie Critics Fewer Than 20% on Rotten Tomatoes
"Bottom of summer-movie barrel, we hope." – James Verniere, Boston Herald
The Warner Bros. release is tracking for a soft $6 million in a fairly wide 2,000-theater release, analysts tell TheWrap, and the film has been screened and marketed in normal fashion. Getting a zero — or a 100 percent, for that matter — isn't without precedent, especially early on.
"It’s not completely unheard of," Atchity said. "But it is unusual with 50 reviews or above that something stays perfect either way."
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Atchity predicted another 30 to 40 "Getaway" reviews to post before they started dying down to a trickle. If it maintains perfect negativity, it could challenge "Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever" (a 2002 actioner starring Lucy Liu and Antonio Banderas, 0% with 108 reviews) as the worst-reviewed movie the site has ever tracked.
It'll certainly crack the Top 3.
See video: Ethan Hawke and Selena Gomez Race the Clock in 'Getaway' Trailer
Other 0% titles topping RT's worst-ever list: "One Missed Call" (2008, 79 reviews), a remake of a Japanese ghost story starring Shannyn Sossamon; "Pinoccio" (2002, 55 reviews), a live-action adaptation of the classic-story starring Roberto Benigni; and "National Lampoon’s Gold Diggers" (2004, 44 reviews), a comedy from first-time director Gary Preisler.
(The best-reviewed film the site has ever seen: "Toy Story 2," which came out in 1999 and remains at 100% with 161 notices.)
Not that we're suggesting it here, but … would a critic write a positive review just to spoil the zero or 100?
"I can't guarantee that no one thinks that way," Atchity said. "But I like to think critics are being honest … We can sniff out when someone’s not. I don’t think there’s a lot of people who would put their professional reputation on the line just to do that."