Mark Caro

Its purpose is simply to allow you to soak up the happy grrrrl-power vibes of this easy-on-the-eyes trio amid unevenly executed computer-enhanced action scenes, at which points the movie resembles a video game.

By all rights, this material should be far more insufferable and less entertaining than it is. [23 Aug 1991, p.H]

The movie plays like a very expanded version of what would make -- and likely has made -- a cute TV newsmagazine segment.

It's all pretty dumb, but if you're in the mood for this sort of thing, you won't have a bad time. [9 April 1999, Friday, p.F]

Impresses more than it entertains.

When the film at last reaches its supposedly shocking conclusion, it resembles an overinflated balloon that has finally burst. It is a film that demands that you pay close attention, then rewards none of your diligence. [12 Apr 1991, p.4]

You watch the movie in a dumbfounded stupor. Why on earth was it made? [26 March 1999, Friday, p.A]

Without insult to either film, Anger Management could be called "Punch-Drunk Love" for the masses.

Isn't likely to satisfy the gamers' appetite for action. It also probably isn't heady enough for the science-fiction crowd, and it's too remote for those who simply wish to be immersed in a head-spinning fantasy world.

Quite entertaining.

But writer-director Alan Shapiroisn't content to focus on aquatic mammalian high jinks. Instead, he must pack in virtually every family movie cliche of the '90s. [17 May 1996, p.C]

Violence may provide entertainment value in more crass or commercially minded projects, but in the unflinching world of Affliction, it leads only to the ruination of your soul. [5 February 1999, Friday, p.D]

As she says in one of the film's more blatant thesis statements: "I'm not the world's best singer or best dancer, but that's not the point. I'm interested in pushing buttons." Madonna's doing just that in Truth or Dare, but what she chooses to reveal remains far more revealing - and entertaining - than almost any comparable self-portrait. [17 May 1991, p.C]

The difference between Head of State and a good comedy is like the difference between Chris Rock and a real actor.

The theory seems to be that if you indiscriminately toss in enough familiar ingredients, you get soup. But Graveyard Shift is more like lumpy water. [29 Oct 1990, p.5C]

Raunchy, smart, ebullient, melancholy, insightful, surprising, funny, frank and sexy as all get-out.

This is camp, pure and simple, and unless the translators have taken far greater liberties than is apparent, the filmmakers know it.

With Cuaron leading the way, Harry has burst from the printed page to soar on-screen.

Sick provides no easy answers but stands as a strangely powerful testament of a man who laughed in the face of terminal illness and fought for his life using the tools of self-destruction, including the occasional hammer and nail.

Meant to be appreciated solely for its gleaming surfaces.

With such skilled filmmaking and committed acting on display, Narc is far more a score than a bust.

The abundance of visual and verbal wit here ensures that the pleasure of watching Snatch need not be guilty.

There's something vanilla about the whole enterprise, from the one-size-fits-all spiritualism to Phil Collins' generic world-music songs.

You wouldn't think the darn thing would have such lingering power.

If you require fine writing, sharp plotting and consistently good acting, you will be in for a long 86 minutes.

A throwback to the family films of the 1970s, like one of Disney's goofy capers crossed with "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

Most definitely a chick flick.

Has such a cheerfully zingy energy that you keep rooting for it even when its jokes turn flatter than a jump shot at a YMCA pickup game.