Let’s parse these Tomatometer numbers on “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” an August thriller (as in, not good enough to land an audience in the more competitive May-July window) if ever there was one.

I mean, it’s blandly amusing, here and there. But 66% positive reviews? WTHey?

My theory? The British critics have tilted this one into positive territory. There are pans from The Daily Mail and Radio Times, but endorsements from The Daily Telegraph, Empire Magazine, Independent, The London Times, The BBC, assorted others. Overwhelmingly positive reviews from Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, Hugh Grant and Jared Harris’ countrymen.

The wankers.
There are Toronto Sun and a Toronto Globe & Mail endorsements. Canadians wish they were Brits.  And the usual collection of Aussie raves. Fox, owned by an Aussie, typically opens its movies there — reliable, Fosters Drunk lapdogs, their critics are. In the bag for the Warner Brothers Brit-pix, too. Apparently.

Nobody’s a bigger Anglophile than me. Love that ’60s vibe and design. IN THE TV COMMERCIALS. The movie doesn’t do much to deliver that. Different songs, slower pacing (naturally), not enough vintage cars from that Cold War era. Miscast in several regards. Will anybody see it?

As usual, Metacritic betters that imbalance by design. A more select group sampling, a lower score. Leave out the Brits, Canucks and Bruces and Sheilas, get to the meat of the matter.The “Straight Outta Compton” endorsements are easier to understand. It’s too long and more conventional than artistic. But it’s a good example of the bio-pic form, inferior to “Notorious” or “Walk the Line,” on a par with “Get on Up.”

Everybody loves Greta Gerwig, so “Mistress America,” her teaming with beau Noah Baumbach, scores.

http://www.mrqe.com “People Places Things,” A slight rom-com with him playing a forlorn comic book author, earns a pass from film reviewers, far and wide. Yeah, the Kiwis went for him, but there aren’t enough of them to tilt reviews into positive territory.

Lesser films opening today include “Big Sky,” a watchaby predictable B-movie (thriller), “Amnesiac,” a failed teaming between Kate Bosworth and her man, one of the directing Polish brothers.