Allen Salkin

The movie is pretty good.

For all of its effort to make an important point about the unseen casualties of war, Man Down is a taxing exercise for the viewer.

Everything is perfectly entertaining. Too perfectly.

At a certain point, the film gains atmosphere and is rescued by the sincerity and sweetness of the young actors. Better, the plot finally hits a groove in the final quarter, and a soaring soundtrack twangs the right emotional notes.

Turning McConaughey into a wreck through makeup and lighting is not an adequate substitute for character development. But it underscores something that the film gets right — the fact that underneath many pretty surfaces is ugliness.

It works so hard to evoke a sense of teary patriotism it leaves behind a grimy feeling.

In Keeping up with the Joneses, I was unable to focus on Hamm's comedic efforts, so interested was I in the ever-changing cinematography of his slick black hairstyle.

Alightly boring, but slightly moving film.

The problem is that endings matter. I was thrilled at watching more than an hour of Ben Affleck playing Christian Wolff as a socially awkward, arithmetically gifted, martial arts expert sharpshooter. But then the plot devolved into nonsense for the final stretch, leaving me wanting to garnish the filmmakers' wages.

A lot makes me uneasy about where biology and technology are going. But Great Scott! Is Morgan really the best you can do?

Dough should have been more easily digestible; the setup is sure to appeal to occasional stoners and Jewish foodies.

Kiefer and Donald Sutherland share emotionally taut scenes set in lush, mountainous country. They both look great and act well.

So what's the problem? A hundred small annoyances, including storylines that peter out into inexplicable dead ends, others...that drone on too long, a dozen too many reaction shots from Hannah's dogs, important characters whose motivations are unclear, and a lack of romantic chemistry between Hannah (Rebecca Hall) and Andrew (Jason Sudeikis).

The world needs great Will Ferrell comedies. Unfortunately, this isn't one of them.