Pam Grady

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

It is a dark drama to be sure and it does carry with it a whiff of disease-of-the-week melodrama, yet there is also transcendence in the tale; as bleak as the film is, it is not without hope.

Dazzling turns by stars Eddie Marsan, Martin Compston and Gemma Arterton; unrelenting suspense; and a wealth of black humor will appeal to an arthouse crowd, though the violence and other unsavory aspects of the story will turn off some.

This intelligent, emotional drama should resonate strongly with fans of character-driven stories and those interested in tales of American political struggle.

The film might have ended at its action-packed and ultimately moving climax, but screenwriter Steve Kloves goes one step farther. He finds the perfect cliffhanger, one that emphasizes just how dangerous young Mr. Potter's situation really is and definitely leaves the audience anxious for the next chapter.

Ondine is Injected with a heavy dose of magic and has a lot going for it: an endearing performance from star Colin Farrell, Christopher Doyle's evocative cinematography and a captivating-if thin-story.

Monsters is enormously satisfying in the way it combines suspense, romance and sci-fi. It heralds a bright new talent in Edwards. If he can do all this for no money, imagine what he can do with a real budget.

There are gaps here and there, but it provides a fascinating introduction to a corner of film history that has gotten too little attention.

Isn't very funny or much fun at all.

Leyser has done his job with this, his first feature, burnishing Burroughs' legend and making manifest the enormous shadow he still casts over writers and artists of all stripe.

With the stranger in a strange land motif, the movie plays a little bit like the 2007 Israeli dramedy "The Band's Visit" and Liev Shreiber's "Everything Is Illuminated" rolled into one.

Like "Amelie," Micmacs is visually dazzling, the ravishing images coming courtesy of "La Vie en Rose" cinematographer, Tetsuo Nagata.

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.

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.

The action, fantasy and suspense elements are all highly enjoyable, but if the romance didn't work this movie would fall apart.

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

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

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.

The director's biggest stroke of genius was casting Baruchel.

An amiable endeavor, if something of a puff piece.

That tension between silly comedy and poignant drama could have been dicey, but Stebbings and Harrelson maintain just the right balance between the two.

Part saga of days gone by, part psychological portrait of the mountaineering spirit, as well as a tale of adventure, Anthony Geffen's documentary will rivet fans of the sport and history buffs alike.

Control's Sam Riley steps into a role made unforgettable by a young Richard Attenborough in the 1947 original and makes it his own, slipping into the character like a second skin.

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.

The most compelling thing about it is what it captures: a snapshot of America's ongoing and endless cultural war at a moment when things begin to shift.

The melodrama is tiresome, overwrought and clichéd.

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.