Jay Boyar

Ricochet is the sort of super-violent exploitation picture that I'm often inclined to dismiss out-of-hand. So I have to admit to being surprised that I didn't find it repellent. As a matter of fact, parts of the movie are nightmarishly fascinating - and I don't mean that as a put-down. [07 Oct 1991, p.D1]

All things considered, Hocus Pocus is much more entertaining than a pimple-people picture has a right to be. In addition to the delightful witches and the delightful Thora Birch, the film's bag of tricks and treats also includes a cat that - thanks to the magic of computer graphics - really seems to talk. [16 July 1993]

Tombstone has quite a lot going for it, at least for the first hour, including all those colorful characters and lots and lots of action. [27 Dec 1993, p.D1]

Romper Stomper offers an intriguing twist on most chase movies: In this one, you don't want the people who are being pursued to get away. [01 Oct 1993, p.20]

A Kiss Before Dying is low-level trash that works. It's far from ambitious, and even considered within the cheap-thriller category, this movie is nothing to make a fuss about. And yet the production is perfectly watchable. [03 May 1991, p.6]

British director Mike Figgis has a genuine knack when it comes to things such as mood, pacing and atmosphere. But he tends to lose track of crucial points - such as whether or not a central character comes out of the story alive. [19 Jan 1990, p.4]

Those who enjoyed the gremlin-in-the-microwave scene from the first film will probably love the paper-shredder sequence in the new one. [15 Jun 1990, p.6]

Although Moretti's deadpan delivery and his film's relaxed pacing may be too unemphatic for some, those on his wavelength will be delighted. If you like this sort of comedy, treat yourself to Caro Diario. [09 Dec 1994, p.34]

The actors make the most of Carroll's dialogue, which is often quite witty. [22 Jan 1999, p.17]

The triumph of this bleak, unsettling picture is that, no matter how grim it gets, it's far too involving for you to turn away.

Nobody's Fool is funny at times and as cuddly as an old teddy bear. But this movie is being taken far too seriously in some circles.

Most of the time, Soapdish is fairly amusing in a zany, anything-goes kind of way. [31 May 1991, p.5]

What's missing in Point of No Return is basically the same thing that was missing in La Femme Nikita - cleverness. Both are stylish action pictures that would seem a lot more stylish with a few ingenious plot twists. [23 March 1993, p.E1]

Although FernGully is no Little Mermaid, it moves along nicely, and the ecological message generally stays out of the way of the action. [10 Apr 1992, p.24]

White Men Can't Jump isn't a terrific movie, but it's the best showcase Snipes has had so far to demonstrate how hip he can be.

One triumph of The Untouchables is the way its operatic style accommodates larger-than-life performances.

If some of the ingredients in this "masala" aren't exactly first-rate, it is spicy enough to recommend. [28 Feb 1992, p.20]

Nunez's determined lack of slickness does have its rewards. For one thing, it allows the atmosphere of the movie's tourism-based town to emerge. And Nunez doesn't go the easy route of using the tackiness of the gift shop and the other locations for cheap laughs: He's more interested in their authenticity. [26 Nov 1993, p.20]

If the thunder-and-lightning sort of movie that Reiner has come up with doesn't square with the quiet power of the material, some of that power breaks through nevertheless. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that a smaller-scaled production - possibly even a documentary - would have better served this particular story. [03 Jan 1997, p.17]

Movie could use a little of the tight plotting and clarity that made The Hit so effective. But perhaps the new film's diffuse nature is the price of its ambitiousness. Besides, in many ways My Beautiful Laundrette is a beauty.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man had all the right elements to become Chevy Chase's equivalent of Steve Martin's wonderful Roxanne (including the winsome Daryl Hannah), which was also about a form of alienation. But Chase's movie ends up being merely pleasant. [28 Feb 1992, p.17]

David Mamet, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter (The Verdict) and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright (Glengarry Glen Ross), is in a pop-elemental mode here, spinning simple, basic myths about manhood for the masses. [26 Sep 1997, p.19]

The thrills and spills are often fun, despite their predictability. Watching this movie doesn't seem so much like white-water rafting as it does like taking a theme-park thrill ride that you've already taken a few dozen times. [30 Sep 1994, p.25]

The dialogue sounds irritatingly tough-clever, the premise is elaborately contrived, and the pacing is best described by the term "commercial-ready." But Narrow Margin has one element that lifts it above the all-too-obvious limitations of the material. That element is Gene Hackman. [21 Sep 1990, p.8]

At a time when a lot of very silly and terribly dangerous things are being said about sexual harassment, Oleanna sheds a remarkable amount of light on one of the major issues facing us as we struggle, both women and men, to play out our new roles. [02 Dec 1994, p.20]

Despite the film's serious shortcomings, it does have a certain wan charm. And its surprise ending packs a strong punch. [23 Feb 1990, p.4]

This good and gentle film, directed by Sydney Pollack (Tootsie), might have been fashioned to make the most of Streep's natural qualities of independence, humor and sophistication (bordering on snobbishness) and her exciting suggestion of untrustworthiness.

The movie blends comedy with drama, and if it isn't the best party you'll ever attend, it does at least manage to sustain a party atmosphere. [20 Sep 1991, p.20]