Steve Simels

An old-fashioned dinosaur opera, in the worst sense of the term. An obviously formulaic effort, designed more as a cash machine than a piece of cinema.

It may not be as epochal a piece of work as "Mean Streets," but packs what feels like a real-life punch none the less.

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.

Episodic, pretentious, and more than a little silly.

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

A reasonably entertaining way to kill an hour and a half.

To be fair, this could have been worse.

Without question the breeziest viewing experience now available at a multiplex near you.

This mix of sweat and uplift in the Civil Rights era doesn't quite come off, despite some strong performances and the fact that it's based on a genuinely inspirational true story.

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 truth of the matter is that, given the thoroughly manipulative, red-herring plot twists that get her to the happy ending, most audience members will have ceased to care about whether she lives or dies long before the matter is settled onscreen.

A likeable, if somewhat whitebread, farce in the Woody Allen mode about love in the big city.

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.

Stone handles his huge ensemble cast extremely well.

Think "The Lion King" redone for horses, with fewer deliberate laughs, more inadvertent ones and stunningly trite songs by Bryan Adams.

Comic Tommy Davidson, in particular, is hilarious as gangsta rapper Puff Smokey Smoke, who falls for Juwanna and then, in a twist lifted directly from the queen of all drag farces, 1959's "Some Like It Hot," decides he still loves her after she's exposed as Jamal. After all, nobody's perfect.

This fish-out-of-water buddy/action comedy is aimed squarely at undiscriminating 10-year-olds, and that demographic may well enjoy it.

The real problem with the new film, however, is a certain lack of chemistry between the leads; Wilson is game, as always, but his part is seriously underwritten, and while Murphy raises trash talking to the level of a fine art, he seems to be operating in another movie altogether.

An occasionally surreal meditation on coping with loss, and a love story with a dark side the size of Montana.

Your ability to overlook the film's myriad contrivances will ultimately depend on how you react to little De Roma.

Fans of cheesy '70s TV shows will also be pleased by Wonder Woman Lynda Carter's brief cameo appearance as the governor of Vermont.

Most of the music is as fine and fierce as you could want.

A genial and instantly forgettable sports comedy.

Much better than you'd expect, largely thanks to an extremely game cast.

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

Has a giddy silliness that's thoroughly endearing.

Acouple of well-earned laughs but ultimately overstays its welcome.

The aroma of hagiography is unavoidable.