Janet Maslin

Morris has fashioned a brilliant work of pulp fiction around this crime. [26 Aug 1988, p.C6]

Undeniably, there's an element of corniness to this. But that doesn't keep An Officer and a Gentleman from being a first-rate movie - a beautifully acted, thoroughly involving romance.

A handsome and fully imagined work of cautionary futuristic fiction.

A narrative path leading from the sincere to the ludicrous, and culminating in a final image of flabbergasting transcendance, gives Breaking the Waves its surprising power.

When you get the shivers watching this wintry tale unfold, it won't be from the cold.

This is a formula film, but it has the kind of good cheer and fine tuning that occasionally give slickness a good name.

The purity and breadth of this meticulous study are all the more gratifying in view of its unprepossessing style.

This film aspires to be a meditation on (among other things) art, trust, loyalty, politics and popular culture. With utter simplicity, and with unexpectedly intense storytelling, it achieves all that and more.

Drawing a parade of colorful performances from a constantly surprising cast, the curiously titled ''John Grisham's 'The Rainmaker' '' is Mr. Coppola's best and sharpest film in years.

A solidly old-fashioned courtroom drama such as The Verdict could have gotten by with a serious, measured performance from its leading man, or it could have worked well with a dazzling movie-star turn. The fact that Paul Newman delivers both makes a clever, suspenseful, entertaining movie even better.

The visual style of The Freshman isn't always up to its verbal wit, but then the writing sets an exceptional standard.

Grandly entertaining...matches the Austen-based "Clueless" for sheer fun. [13 Dec 1995]

Elegant, festive and very, very funny.

As directed exquisitely by Gillian Armstrong in a headstrong spirit that recalls her debut feature, "My Brilliant Career," this elliptical tale makes up in visual beauty whatever it lacks in universal meaning.

Fierce and disturbing, with a plot that skillfully resists following any familiar course. The film's hero fears that he's half-crazy, and for two hours Mr. Gilliam artfully keeps his audience feeling the same way.

Even though this film may do for chess what "The Red Shoes" did for ballet, it works movingly and most effectively as a family drama.

The second Star Trek movie is swift, droll and adventurous, not to mention appealingly gadget-happy. It's everything the first one should have been and wasn't.

The story is filled with strange, homespun miracles, and this single-minded little film could be counted as one of them.

For all its exaggerated ordinariness, this film seems to start where others leave off.

As Owen, Mr. DeVito is such an odd combination of the childlike and the diabolical that he remains a captivating figure throughout the story. Mr. DeVito's comic timing is particularly enjoyable, since he has such a slow, steady, deliberate way of building up to outrageous behavior.

Mr. Pitt moves through this unexpectedly solid thriller with dazzling confidence, showing off all the star power that he usually works overtime to hide.

Unfolds beautifully, with a rueful, knowing intelligence that rises above easy assumptions. [27 September 1996, p.C1]

Those unfamiliar with the book will simply appreciate a stirring, many-sided fable, one that is exceptionally well told.

It proves to be one of the more exotic blooms in the Disney hothouse, what with voluptuous flora, hordes of fauna, charming characters and excitingly kinetic animation that gracefully incorporates computer-generated motion.

Crackling good... the best crime movie in a long while.

Ms. Armstrong instantly demonstrates that she has caught the essence of this book's sweetness and cast her film uncannily well, finding sparkling young actresses who are exactly right for their famous roles.

Mr. Demme has captured both the look and the spirit of this live performance with a daring and precision that match the group's own.

Combine two stars of this wattage with a lot of techno-talk and elaborate heist plotting and you get plenty of good reasons to pay attention.