Michael Dequina

Will warm your heart without making you feel guilty about it.

Not a good film. In fact, it's a rather bad example of that already barrel-bottom-scraping genre, the teenybopper romantic comedy.

A glacially-paced disease-of-the-week movie blown up to big screen size.

Basically more of the same, and depending on who you are, that's either an encouraging statement or a warning.

Lahti's feature directorial debut plays like a watered-down variation ("Ghost World") -- that is, until the final third, when the film not only deviates but flat out derails.

It makes no sense, but then again neither does much of anything in The Country Bears.

Less Bond than simply boring, a tedious and overdirected race-against-time drama with a few espionage elements thrown in.

Ultimately comes off as so restrained as to be detached and almost as chilly as LaBute's darker films -- not exactly what one would want from a story about a love so strong that it echoes through the ages.

Were it not for the presence of higher-level acting talent, A Rumor of Angels would have been a banal TV movie.

With its simplistic, didactic approach, the presence of a top-flight ensemble is the only thing separating John Q from your average TV movie of the week.

A passive film, playing it quiet and safe, hoping that the viewer will extend some good will towards it.

Bratt's fast-talking, all-attitude interpretation is showboating without soul -- which can be said of the entire movie.

A faithful translation of the character and one of his more memorable tales on the page; it satisfies as an adventure and as a more intimate story.

Given how much Yellen does right, it's all the more shameful that she so spectacularly sinks her film in the foot with one hugely questionable "creative" decision: adding a pair of ghosts into the mix.

A two-time Oscar winner playing a crazy person in a big studio film released in late October. Can't you just smell the pretension? Probably not, given the other ways in which this film stinks.

With nothing in the way of inspiration coming on either the writing or directing end, it's up to the actors to maintain audience interest and emotional engagement, and two members of the cast rise to the occasion: Kline and Christensen.

Predictable and tiresome.

As palpable as the atmosphere is, had the film boasted a clearer, more memorable story and performances that were a step above adequate, the creepiness wouldn't have simply lingered with the viewer, it would have gotten under their skin.

It's throwback, formula Ah-nuld all the way, a straightforward and simple revenge thriller.

Falls apart with the slightest nudge -- of thought, that is.

Doesn't necessarily make Murder by Numbers an awful film; it's certainly watchable, but it never escapes its paint-by-numbers design.

Luckily, the genuinely funny jokes far outnumber the duds in the film itself, which is helped by the generally energetic performances by Broken Lizard and their co-stars.

The radiant Blanchett makes Charlotte's individual journey from lovelorn lady to independent woman believable and involving, and that's ultimately what counts the most -- even if the destination is less than ideal.

May not exactly be an innovative film, but it most certainly is a lovable one.

But damn it if the film doesn't work as what it's supposed to be: a big, brainless blast o' boom at the box office.

Chalk up another big-name star vehicle that fails to live up to a wealth of potential.

An emotionally honest film, but it would have been far more affecting if it felt more true to life.

No less than four screenwriters are credited, yet the script is filled with the usual clichés (hello, red digital readout!) and supposed twists that can be seen a mile away.