Joe Pollack

The film is directed with dark stylishness by Katt Shea Ruben from a screenplay she wrote with the film's producer, Andy Ruben. [29 May 1992, p.3F]

Fishburne gets the last word, however, in the midst of more flip-flops than a lake full of frogs, and while much of the movie is shoot-'em-up and fast action, the work of the actors and of Duke give it a nice cohesion. [18 Apr 1992, p.4D]

Unfortunately, as the characters change, Harris cannot keep up with them, and as the film becomes more and more melodramatic, it becomes less exciting. A good movie, but Harris had potential for a great one and let it get away. [02 Apr 1993, p.3G]

This is not a great, thought-provoking film, but following the young people from relationship to relationship is mostly fun, though it begins to sag in the latter parts as Crowe does some padding to flesh out a too-thin story. [18 Sept 1992, p.5G]

Betsy's Wedding is what summer pictures used to be, light and sweet and brief as cotton candy. [25 Jun 1990, p.5D]

A splendid murder mystery, but one with as much gore and steamy sex as I've seen in a long time. [20 Mar 1992, p.3F]

Memphis Belle is a great movie of men in combat, and the bonding it provides. At the same time, it shows the awful face of war so quietly that it speaks with great volume. [12 Oct 1990, p.3F]

Despite the melancholy background of Scandinavia, the repressive work ethic, the class struggle, this is a beautiful love story. [14 Aug 1992, p.3G]

The whining reaches new heights in Husbands and Wives, and it was one of the things that bothered me. Another was the over-jerky camera movement as he tried to give the film the look of a documentary but only made it look like a bad home movie. A third was his use of characters looking straight at the camera and talking to an off-screen person, perhaps a psychiatrist. I think that's a phony device. On the other hand, I found more Allen humor along the way than in several of his recent movies, and he kept it brighter than the depressing tone the subject matter would seem to allow. When he didn't whine, Allen was excellent, and so was Sydney Pollack as his friend Jack. [27 Sept 1992, p.6C]

The acting is solid, but the story sags from time to time, and it's very predictable, though when it's funny, it's very funny. [21 Nov 1992, p.7D]

THE WAR ROOM would have been a great motion picture if either James Carville or George Stephanopoulos had been elected president - or if there were more involvement of Bill Clinton. Although none of those occurred, the documentary on the 1992 campaign, from the Democratic side, is interesting, sometimes amusing and always has a sense of immediacy.[14 Jan 1994, p.7F]

Littman avoids excess, just as she does throughout this gripping, moving, terribly unpleasant--and yet valuable--motion pictures. [25 Nov 1983, p.5E]

A well-made, strong three-generation saga that deals with a number of interesting - and sometimes uncomfortable - topics. [27 Oct 1989, p.3F]

The acting is quite good, and Marshall keeps suspense as high as possible, considering we all know the eventual conclusion. [15 Jan 1993, p.3E]

Made in America is at its best when the one-liners are thick and fast, and when comedy rules. There's a lot of staring into space that substitutes for acting when the going gets tougher, and while the ending milks all possible emotion out of an audience, there still is something heartwarming about it. [28 May 1993, p.3E]

Most important, Taraporevala and Nair have created a seamless story that entertains, informs -- and maybe even teaches. [28 Feb 1992, p.75]

Exotica is a little hard to believe, but if it catches you, it holds on tight. [24 Mar 1995, p.3E]

Peter Bogdanovich's brilliant direction (on a par with his classic comedy, ''What's Up, Doc?'') has brought a successful adaptation of a stage farce to the screen, conquered the problems of the play-within-a-play format and most important, has lost almost none of the laughs of Michael Frayn's original play. As a result, ''Noises Off'' brings laughter from start to finish because Bogdanovich has captured the essence of physical farce and blended it perfectly with superlative comic dialogue. [24 March 1992, p.4D]