David Sterritt

Dumont's methods are radical, but there's a fascinating method to his seeming cinematic madness.

Imaginatively acted, endlessly atmospheric.

The characters are engaging, but the story is hackneyed and the filmmaking is dull. So is much of the acting, except by Jessica Tandy, who carries her own energy wherever she goes.

This great masterpiece of German film is evocative and inventive from its first shot to its last.

Lots of brilliant filmmaking and high-spirited acting, at least until the story turns repetitious and formulaic in the last 30 minutes.

The film has enough wild driving to satisfy any "French Connection" fan or "Bullitt" buff, but there's precious little for anyone else to enjoy. 2 foolish + 2 flashy = 4 get it!

This is a great companion piece to Hou's masterly "Flowers of Shanghai" and fresh evidence of his status as Taiwan's greatest filmmaker.

Amiable, though much too long.

The stars of The Bear are compulsively watchable. Just the way they move their bodies is endlessly fascinating. Ditto for the magnificent Canadian scenery. [08 Nov 1989, p.11]

Would have more heft if the filmmakers had been supplied with talented stars, original ideas, and a barely adequate budget.

Used Cars is full of used characters, used ideas, and used jokes, many of which are in astonishingly bad taste.

Colorful and cute. It would be better if it weren't quite so sitcommy and if it didn't outlast its ideas.

It's an engrossing and inventive drama despite its flaws.

This is Hollywood's most mature treatment of the '50s-nostalgia theme so far, and the most accurate.

Hoffman's acting is poignant and compassionate, etching a profoundly sad character with no trace of compromise, and Bates gives one of her most controlled performances ever.

The story is amusing and the animation is first-rate, but there's less sparkling originality than in "Toy Story."

It's insulting when such savvy filmmakers expect us to laugh automatically at four-letter words, bathroom humor, and caricatures as crude as they are unoriginal. At its best, The Ladykillers soars above its own worst instincts, especially when Hanks and Hall take over the action.

Its discussions don't go very deep, and moviegoers with strong religious values may wonder why it comes down for humanism over spirituality.

Almost entirely devoted to combat violence and sentimental interludes.

Steven Spielberg's blockbuster whips up superficial sorts of excitement, and unlike the original "Jurassic Park," the picture looks tacky around the edges.

The acting and crooning are sadly uneven, making this a shaky comeback vehicle for the screen musical.

Penn's excellent acting doesn't raise his character above the level of familiar clichés about woman-chasing jazzmen.

Howard spins the story with enough gusto and gumption to make it reasonably entertaining.

Debrauwer brings crisp conviction to what might have been an overly sentimental tale, filming it with a straightforward style and good-natured sincerity that ring consistently true.

In short, this movie is exactly the kind of starry-eyed escapist fantasy that Dr. Powell suspects Prot of having. It's harmless enough, since we can be cured just by leaving the theater.

Utterly predictable, but pleasant enough for its young target audience.

I doubt if the results would have satisfied Kahlo, whose originality in matters of life, art, and ideas was vastly more far-reaching.

Details of the 1963 period are weakly handled, though, and the ending is as false as it is sentimental. [21 Aug 1987]