Steve Simels

It's too bad screenwriters Gough and Millar didn't have enough faith in their premise to play it straight; if they had, they might have produced a classic rather than a "Blazing Saddles" without the courage of its convictions.

Hallstrom's leisurely adaptation of John Irving's unconventional coming-of-age novel is so well crafted and intelligent that it feels churlish to point out that it's easier to admire than actually like.

If this were a more mainstream film with a shot at a wider audience, we'd probably be talking Oscar nominations for Futterman and Ball.

Entertaining -- if predictable.

As a director, La Salle manages to sustain a mood of looming menace almost throughout, and as an actor he gets the film's best joke: When his Satan fills out his hospital admission form, he gives his social security number as 666.

Has an interesting look, several sensational performances (notably from Kyle MacLachlan and Liev Schreiber) and in general works far better than it has any right to.

Saturday Night Live veteran Chris Kattan more or less steals the film as the racially confused Mr. Feather, a white supremacist bad guy whose speech patterns tend to get down and funky against his will.

There's a certain built-in poignance to the end-of-an-era proceedings here, regardless of how frostily they're dramatized.

The film is at heart a look at a unique slice of Americana, particularly an opening montage in which we realize that football here is a cradle-to-the-grave proposition -- literally.

It's actually a sweet, often very funny story about a schlemiehl redeemed by love.

Vince and Cesar have been written to evoke equal audience sympathy, so there's no suspense whatsover in the outcome of their climactic match-up, the brutal realism of Shelton's staging notwithstanding.

The acting is similarly accomplished across the board, though it must be noted that Currie nearly walks off with the film: He's the funniest preppie seducer since Tim Matheson in "Animal House" (1978).

Mildly amusing and as obvious as it is good-natured.

One conclusion is inescapable. You have really seen something you don't see every day.

This megastar mix of CGI animation and live action is remarkably faithful to the spirit of the original.

A kitchen-sink realist coming-of-age story in the venerable British tradition, with all the good and bad that entails.

Stylish, exciting and an occasionally poignant sci-fi adventure spectacle.

Glacially slow going.

But there's a vaguely self-congratulatory tone to the screenplay that's a bit off-putting.

By the film's big finale, the whole thing has begun to feel distinctly ridiculous.

Cudworth's script gives the characters more depth than is the genre norm, and the ensemble acting is terrific.

The aroma of hagiography is unavoidable.

A charming, technically sensational version of E.B. White's children's classic.

The lead girls are easy on the eyes, and comic Faizon Love, who plays one of Matt's non-surfing, sumo-wrestler-size teammates, nearly steals the show when the girls teach him a few of their better moves.

Episodic, pretentious, and more than a little silly.

Veers inconsistently between sit-com jokeiness and nostril-flaring melodrama.

Has a giddy silliness that's thoroughly endearing.

Exciting and well-shot.