Pam Grady

The melodrama is tiresome, overwrought and clichéd.

Good Neighbors' greatest strength is that even when the plot becomes too obvious and the thriller aspects fall apart, it can always wrestle a laugh out of you.

That Sarah's Key never quite descends into melodrama is a credit to the strength of Scott Thomas' performance, more than to the writing.

This elegant weepie offers plenty for fans of melodrama, character-driven stories and period pieces.

An historical drama so swamped by its soap opera crescendos, no resonant story can survive the wet.

Writer/director Chris Ordal's debut feature is not a documentary nor is it precisely a biopic. Instead the drama captures the artist at a pivotal moment in time.

Waltz is the highlight of this glossy but plodding drama, a live wire in a movie that sorely needs a jolt.

Insidious could have been something special: a horror movie that actually horrifies without resorting to gore. Instead, thanks to too many cheap jokes and a bit of silly music, it falls short.

The movie's true horror isn't the murderous extraterrestrials, but the lame script.

While the anthropomorphism Joubert employs to tell the lions' story may strike some as cloying, ultimately that doesn't distract from this tale of survival in an inhospitable environment.

The positives have an edge over the negatives, but it probably doesn't matter either way. It is an Adam Sandler movie.

An amiable endeavor, if something of a puff piece.

A movie that ought to entice people to want to travel with Gulliver instead inveigles them to run from him.

The movie never strikes a balance between its comic and dramatic halves and that dooms it. It is an almost good film that flounders, because there is no treatment for tone deafness.

A throwback to classic movies like Charade and North by Northwest where beautiful, sophisticated people answer life-threatening danger with bon mots and ingenuity.

To call this so-called family film dreadful is an understatement. Jaw-droppingly awful on almost every level, this is a movie to avoid.

This sci-fi thriller manages to blend genuine suspense with unintentional laughs.

The problems begin with Shyamalan's script, which is an orgy of exposition. The characters explain and explain and explain some more, points driven home with the subtlety of a jackhammer.

Luke Wilson's terrific performance renders an uneasy hybrid of crime drama, comedy and ecommerce far more compelling than it otherwise would be.

By focusing on the human aspect of Al-Qaeda, The Oath does give the viewer something to think about, but the film is unsatisfying, raising questions and providing too few answers.

This is a film of warmth, humor, suspense and surprising grace.

Fails to completely satisfy, thanks to problems with the script that neither director nor stars can overcome.

The doc has won a host of awards at film festivals and it is a policy wonk's dream of a movie, but it is dry, statistic-laden viewing that is unlikely to attract much attention beyond education circles.

Silly and not nearly scary enough, this does not rank as grade-A Romero, but the story unfolds efficiently and economically and it provides plenty of laughs.

This story of a hit man who wants out after performing this one last job is so threadbare, trite and predictable that not the star's formidable charisma nor the considerable talent of director Anton Corbijn can come close to erasing its deficiencies.

The laughs are a little uneven and director Jeff Tremaine does not always take full advantage of the 3D technology, but the movie has enough going for it to satisfy Jackass' legions of fans and make some new ones.

Isn't very funny or much fun at all.

A talented cast is game, but the lazy script utterly fails them.