Les Miserables is 2012's most redeeming movie, as voted by Christianity Today's film critics. And depending on your perspective, that's either great news—or just grating. Seems that viewers and reviewers either love or hate the movie, based on the stage play of the same name (which was based on the Victor Hugo novel, also of the same name).

At Rotten Tomatoes, it's barely certified "fresh" at 70 percent. A couple more negative reviews, and it would drop below 70, officially moving from "fresh" to "rotten." It's apparently either-or with Les Mis, with little room for "meh" in between. (If you only count RT's "top critics," it's solidly rotten at 58 percent.)

The Dallas Morning News calls it "one of the most gratifying movies I've ever seen." The Los Angeles Times says, "You can walk into the theater as an agnostic, but you may just leave singing with the choir." Richard Roeper says it was "an unforgettable movie going experience, sure to garner multiple Oscar nominations." And CT's critic was grateful "for another chance to experience this moving story, these beautiful portrayals of faith, and these amazing songs."

But then, The Chicago Tribune 's Michael Phillips "didn't like it." The Newark Star-Ledger 's Stephen Whitty moaned that after watching it, "you may be one of the miserable ones, too." Entertainment Weekly 's Lisa Schwarzbaum says the film "made me long for guillotines." The New Yorker 's Anthony Lane snarked, "I screamed a scream as time went by." And Lane's colleague David Denby wrote that he "sat cowering in ...

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