Jean Oppenheimer

Despite its two-and-a-half hour running time, the movie flies by, so absorbing are its story, songs and stars.

A beautiful but depressing film.

Turns out to be more than simply a near-miracle of filmmaking, however; it is also an astonishing work of art, a historical epic that drifts through one's consciousness like a reverie.

Be forewarned: Scenes of the protagonist learning to swallow the drug pellets will make many viewers queasy. Rarely has the power of suggestion been so unsettling.

Viewers still need a window into a character's soul if they are to connect on a deep emotional level. And that is missing here.

An extraordinary film from a born filmmaker.

Far more than a mere visual feast.

When all is said and done, Far from Heaven proves an easier film to appreciate than to emotionally embrace. It fails the test of being, in the descriptive phrase of Pauline Kael, "compulsively watchable."

Tanovic describes it as "a very serious film with a sense of humor." It is an apt description for a very remarkable film, one of the best of the year.

A spare film, with little dialogue but a lot to say.

A film of tremendous complexity and depth, a galvanic force that sends the mind reeling.

While Sollett provided cast members with a detailed breakdown of the story--a kind of narrative guide--he wanted them to improvise their own dialogue based on how they would react to a similar situation in their own lives....The result is quite extraordinary.

Nothing, however, can diminish the sense of horror we feel at what happened that day in September, while Macdonald's revelations and the candid comments he elicits more than make up for the film's less successful elements.

Thanks to the performances and McCarthy's understated script and direction, the film walked off with both the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award.

Combines strong feminist sensibilities with surprisingly old-fashioned melodrama.

A charming little film, filled with eccentric characters and ingratiating performances.

Devotees of the comedienne presumably will think they have died and gone to heaven, while Cho virgins may laugh aloud a half-dozen times but probably won't become converts.

But in a calculated move that pays off handsomely, the picture's remarkable power is reserved for the end, when the intertwining themes coalesce in an extraordinarily satisfying and stirring way.

A beautiful film from Iran explores beauty both physical and spiritual.

The story itself is absolutely amazing, and the sense of outrage it evokes is universal, but director Noyce faces a difficult task in that once the story is set in motion there is very little action, other than walking shots of the girls, and almost no dialogue.

A riveting movie that's as entertaining as it is socially and politically important.

Huppert has never looked more beautiful. Despite her severe expression and lack of makeup, her face communicates enormous character. She proves absolutely spellbinding.

Emotionally gripping from start to finish, the movie presents an electrifying and unforgettable look at life in a place that God has all but forgotten.

Cheadle, always a fine actor, is outstanding here--an almost willfully naive yet uncommonly decent man who sees civilization crashing and burning around him yet who, almost against his own better judgment, refuses to give in to it.

This engaging film proves a total pleasure, suitable for moviegoers who like their films a bit old-fashioned but still mainstream.

Fascinating and engrossing on every conceivable level

Proves an absolute chore to sit through.

The film proves unrelentingly grim -- and equally engrossing.

It's the best thing Wong has done in years--perhaps ever.

This intriguing jigsaw puzzle is visually arresting, narratively inventive, and psychologically enigmatic.

Pulsates with music, dance, color and laughter, but also glows with quiet moments of drama.

It is that rare find: a film that is as emotionally truthful as it is satisfying.

Demy's films are often described in terms of music; this one is more like a tango in which one person leads and refuses to forfeit the position.

As an actress, she (July) is annoying as hell, with a quirkiness so labored, she seems to be begging for our affection. As a director she is much better.

It's like an amateur theater production. Reiner rushes through the setup in such a mad dash that it feels like a cartoon.

Though we know the story's final outcome, the trial scene and its aftermath are no less shocking and affecting.

Both actors are marvelous, and the film, low-key but heartfelt, is a gem.

A modest, uneventful film, buoyed by fine, albeit low-key, performances and the ring of truth.

Rich in story, character, and design, The Cider House Rules is obviously a collaborative effort, but above all it is a triumph for director Hallström.

Although frustratingly confusing -- often the viewer can't be sure who is on which side or why -- the film brims with physical grandeur, exquisite costumes, and a captivating performance by Blanchett.

A character study, the film succeeds in large measure due to the kinetically charged performance of Romain Duris.

A disarmingly funny, clear-eyed, and affectionate memory piece.

Offers both a gentle humor and a sly but unmistakable optimism about what life in Iran might one day be.

The charismatic Jamal has the spirit of a young Antoine Doinel, and Winterbottom shoots him to evoke the memory of Truffaut's young hero.

Sly and corrosively funny political black comedy.

Nelson has directed his actors--including David Arquette, Steve Buscemi and Daniel Benzali (no, this isn't a joke)--to speak in David Mamet-like cadence, all short, choppy sentences and staccato rhythms. It's a terrible mistake.

The acting is remarkable across the board, undoubtedly a combination of a strong script, gifted actors and exceptional direction.

The two lead performances are so good it contains more emotional depth than it probably has a right to.

Shot in black and white by the renowned Raoul Coutard, and with a score by Michel Legrand, the film represents an idealized view of reality that will strike some viewers (including this one) as overly sentimental.

A gentle, beautifully realized tale of love and intimacy...It moved me to tears.

Pure joy to watch -- and an invaluable documentary record of a bygone era.

That the film is good rather than great proves a disappointment, but just finding a good film these days is rare, especially a big studio picture.

Enormously appealing romantic comedy-drama.

In her first major role, Ferrera is amazing -- It is a wonderfully natural performance. To top it all off, she and Ontiveros are completely believable as mother and daughter.

While too many things about the story don't ring true for the film as a whole to work, there is enough in Next Stop Wonderland to keep the viewer wide awake and entertained.

That this mess should come from the hand of Istvan Szabo, the brilliant Hungarian director of "Mephisto" and "Colonel Redl," is the real shocker.

Like gathering storm clouds, Donnie Darko creates an atmosphere of eerie calm and mounting menace -- stands as one of the most exceptional movies of 2001.

Never rises above the level of a 1950s-era adolescent romance novel.

A delicious little thriller about an uptight, ill-humored English mystery writer who becomes enmeshed in murder, Swimming Pool is at once comical, contrary, resourceful and ambiguous.

Packs an unexpected emotional wallop. Gavin Hood's film tells a story of violence and redemption that's even more remarkable when you consider that neither of the lead performers had ever acted in a movie previously.

This terrific movie manages to invest kitchen-sink realism with the soul of a fairy tale.

Although meant as a light comedy-drama in which both characters are sympathetic, The Housekeeper instead proves irritating.

A bleak, beautiful film.

Adding to the film's underlying sense of urgency and unease is composer Robert Miller's haunting score, so reminiscent of Philip Glass' music for "The Fog of War."

Last Days shouldn't be half as engrossing as it turns out to be.

It's a melodrama more than a drama, a light thriller –- which is not to say that it is not wonderfully entertaining and satisfying. In fact, it is both.

Schultze has a spare style, deliberately slow pace, and so little dialogue that to say it's in German with English subtitles seems to be stretching the truth.

Alternately heartrending and buoyant, tragic and sweetly humorous, the film leaves an indelible impression on the heart and mind. It's among the best of the year.

Does a masterful job of combining digital imagery and voice performance to create totally believable animal characters.

A major weakness of A Soldier's Daughter is that it has no real plot.

Pak's writing has a simplicity that belies the film's emotional impact.

Explores a wealth of issues and conflicting ideologies.

This latest adventure proves to be a suitably sweet addition to Pooh's cinematic canon.

Emotionally powerful.

Certainly a terrific sense of urgency underlies the story and Tom's desperation over Claire is palpable, but that may not be enough for viewers who actually like to understand how the riddle is unraveling.

The film provides solid entertainment for kids but lacks any real sense of wonder and magic.

A small story, with fewer lofty ambitions than its lead character, the film runs out of steam at a certain point. Overall, its leisurely pace and lack of overt action will bore some filmgoers, while the movie's final section, during which Ganesh pursues his political aspirations, feels strangely hurried and less satisfying than the rest of the story.

An engaging, family-oriented romantic comedy that should appeal as much to fans of the original movie as to viewers unfamiliar with the 1961 Hayley Mills version.

The problem with Secretary isn't that it is offensive or unnerving -- although you get the idea the filmmakers hoped it might be at least one of those. The problem is that the story is slow-moving and dull.

Farmanara, the actor, brings a real poignancy to the role and, thus, to the story that seems, more than anything, the tale of a man coming to terms with his life.

The Dying Gaul becomes so overwrought in the last act that it ends up as pure histrionics.

Worth the price of admission if only to see the slinky Thurman decked out in a form-fitting, sequined pre-flapper era outfit. The word stunning hardly does her justice.

Far superior to either "Life Is Beautiful" or "Jakob the Liar."

No matter how restrained the direction or unsentimental the performances -- and White Oleander scores points for both -- there is no escaping the semi-trashy but oh-so-life-affirming ring of the plot.

Viewers with a low tolerance for sentiment may balk, but the emotions are so true and the characters so appealing that the film should completely win you over.

Overly broad and silly at times, the film also has an "important" message to pass along to its young viewers.

Don Cheadle is wonderful, as always, as the former drug-addict-turned-psychiatrist who worries it's all hopeless but refuses to stop trying. Sounds clichéd, perhaps, but for the most part it works, thanks to piercingly authentic performances.

Oddly, the film's strengths -- its quiet, understated manner; its non-plot; the awkward speech patterns and uncomfortable pauses that suggest emotional isolation -- are also its weaknesses.

Slick, glossy, and artificial.

Viewers expecting another enchanting, whimsical tale of high energy and mischievous spirits will be sorely disappointed.

The picture's biggest problem is that no one is sympathetic.

The film takes an incredibly wrong turn when it shifts to the courtroom trial -- It all but kills any goodwill Silberling has engendered up to this point.

So inventive, confident, and accomplished is the production that it's a shock to learn Sliding Doors is the work of a first-time director-screenwriter.

The film is worth seeing for Sorvino alone. The actress hasn't been this good since Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite," a role that couldn't be more dissimilar.

A genuinely affecting movie that approaches its adult themes with intelligence, maturity, and rare authenticity.

The real star of the film is the food, which is sliced, diced, shredded, rolled, sautéed and fricasseed to mouthwatering perfection.

On one level it is highly intimate, yet it is also universal, a modern metaphor for the human condition and the precariousness of life itself.

If Campion has a message in all this -- something about the eternal battle of the sexes -- it is far from clear.