Peter Stack

This is not comfortable comedy.

One of the year's most fascinating flicks.... Brilliant performances by Jeff Daniels, Melanie Griffith and a newcomer named Ray Liotta give sparkle, and shadows, to Something Wild. [7 Nov 1986]

Father of the Bride Part II is too long, completely predictable and unabashedly immersed in a posh world that is totally out of reach of most people. It's a comfort to see that riches don't keep some guys from being dithering fools when it comes to life's fundamentals.

Chase is so dull in this film, he looks as if he's sleepwalking.

The most entertaining movie of the year. Funny and action-packed, it's also got that rare thing, heart.

Viewers may feel let down because the depth promised by the movie's visual artistry is never quite delivered.

Look Who's Talking plays baby-picture cute almost beyond the limits of the tolerable, but it has enough spark and intelligence to be a very likable, occasionally riotous romantic comedy. [13 Oct 1989, p.E1]

This moody film, set in muggy Memphis, exudes a dangerous veracity that's both exciting and poisonous.

Extreme Measures has disturbing moments, and poignant ones, too. It plays a good game of paranoia with its unlikely hero. Once the story gets past Luthan's implausible firing on trumped-up drug charges, it places him alone in a hostile world. Relying only on a determination to solve the medical puzzle, he goes on a desperate expedition into the bowels of the subway system. It's a grim, scary sequence, and Grant seems a million miles away from his stammering comedic style -- an extreme that is surprisingly engaging.

Eric Idle--a royal among sillies--turns in a wonderfully wacky performance.

A gorgeously rendered and gritty film version of the classic adventure story by Jack London. It is a must-see for anyone with an interest in outdoor adventures, particularly as invented by Jack London. [18 Jan 1991, p.E3]

It's both amazing and depressing how much talent goes to waste in the lame adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s 1973 absurdist novel.

The Cable Guy doesn't know when to pull the plug. Much of the film plays like a personal boob tube with Carrey trapped inside, determined to act his way out in a mugging freak show. He's a disturbing mixture of psychopath and pathetically misguided lonely soul.

Does have a certain classy charm because of its upscale setting. One could wait for the video.

Could have used more dramatic energy, maybe at the expense of some of that gorgeous scenery.

Kiss of Death was directed by Barbet Schroeder ("Single White Female") in the fashion of a creepily smirking cat toying with a particularly appealing mouse.

It has the simple charm of being mindless fun with nary a worry that there are several pockets of lame gags or far-fetched comedy bits that refuse to register on the giggle meter. [16 Feb 1990, p.E3]

Want a believable plot or acting? Forget it. But if you just want knockout images, unabashed eye candy and a riveting look at a complex world that seems both real and fake at the same time, "Hackers'' is one of the most intriguing movies of the year.

Pathetic yet stupidly entertaining for several minutes of its interminable running time, 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain makes half its cast look like retreads and half like fresh ponies desperately karate-kicking a dud script to see if it has any signs of life.

Drawn with the big-headed, big- eyed appeal that has made the TV show hot among the diaper crowd, the film has a satirical edge that won't be lost on adults but retains a sense of innocence and a joyful toddler's outlook.

A rare spectacle on the big screen.

Carrey goes boldly where no funnyman has ventured before, and it's simply amazing to watch him do it.

A deftly layered drama.

It takes a while for this powerful, funny movie to grab you, but once you get hooked, it feels like you're swimming in a wonderful stream of humanity, bathed in intimacy, romance and, not a little bit, delicious fun. Fried Green Tomatoes is as likely as any film around to carry your heart away and leave you with a wonderful glow. [27 Dec 1991, p.D1]

Vampire in Brooklyn is neither funny nor frightening and comes up a tedious middle-road hybrid from veteran scaremeister Wes Craven, who directed.

The new comedy is screechingly inane and skitters in nine directions at once.

(Driver) is stuck in a mess of a movie that suffers from awkward writing, a plot with major disconnects in plausibility, an annoyingly screechy kid character and cheesy production values.

What is astonishing about this movie is how all the elements are so deftly mixed - the technology of real sets and people interwoven with the cartoon world, and yet Zemeckis hardly sacrifices a beat in laying out a curlicuing '40s-style thriller. [22 June 1988]