Artfully designed to appeal to lovers of romance and books, but by the end of the film I was not convinced it knew much about either.

The film's ending is improbably upbeat: Magic realism, in a sense. It works as a deliverance. Dennis Foon's screenplay is based on the novel "Chanda's Secrets" by Canadian writer Allan Stratton. It is a parable with Biblical undertones, recalling "Cry, the Beloved Country."

A red-blooded adventure movie, dripping with atmosphere, filled with the gruesome and the sublime, and surprisingly faithful to the novel.

How can you make a movie about a man who cannot change, whose whole life is anchored and defended by routine? Few actors could get anywhere with this challenge, and fewer still could absorb and even entertain us with their performance, but Hoffman proves again that he almost seems to thrive on impossible acting challenges.

They are all so very articulate, which is refreshing in a time when literate and evocative speech has been devalued in the movies.

The movie didn't quite work for me. Its timing wasn't confident enough to pull off its ambitious conception.

It contains the sounds and rhythms of real teen-age lives; it was written and directed after a lot of research, and is acted by kids who are to one degree or another playing themselves. The movie's a rare attempt to provide a portrait of the way teen-agers really do live today in some suburban cultures.

The flashback-laden story, which has the Joker romping through a decrepit old model for the space-age future, is pretty herky-jerky. But what counts most are the visuals, which in true comic book fashion are colorful and wittily stylized: Batman's cinderblock jaw and massive physique can't obscure his lunkhead nature and unimpressive voice. [27 Dec 1993, p.23]

Paul Haggis' In the Valley of Elah is built on Tommy Lee Jones' persona, and that is why it works so well. The same material could have been banal or routine with an actor trying to be "earnest" and "sincere."

The architecture of The Debt has an unfortunate flaw. The younger versions of the characters have scenes that are intrinsically more exciting, but the actors playing the older versions are more interesting. Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson and Ciaran Hinds bring along the weight of their many earlier roles. To be sure, the older actors get some excitement of their own, but by then, the plot has lost its way.

Impressive, although not quite the film it could have been. It asks few hard questions.

Dr. Furter is played by a British actor named Tim Curry, who bears a certain resemblance to Loretta Young in drag. He's the best thing in the movie, maybe because he seems to be having the most fun.

The film unfolds easily, with affection for the man no one likes, and at 95 minutes it doesn't overstay its welcome.

The setup in The Client is done so well, it deserves a better payoff.

Part of the appeal of the program is in the wisecracking. But the movies themselves are also crucial. They are so incredibly bad that they get laughs twice--once because of what they are, and again because of what is said about them.

Mr. Malcolm’s List is a low-key, pleasant slice of escapism, with some lovely scenery and the attendant period-piece costumery and lavish estates, and a host of great-looking people bending themselves into all sorts of knots and doing their best to keep up with the quipping and the courtship rituals and the obligatory Misunderstandings, Deceptions and Betrayals before it all ends with … spoiler alert … declarations of true love!

While The Good Lie certainly doesn’t shy away from scenes designed to make us shake our heads at man’s inhumanity to man and scenes designed to make us dab at our eyes, it’s the kind of movie that earns those moments.

The Fox and the Hound is one of those relatively rare Disney animated features that contains a useful lesson for its younger audiences. It's not just cute animals and frightening adventures and a happy ending; it's also a rather thoughtful meditation on how society determines our behavior.

This is a film that is affirming and inspiring and re-creates the stories of a remarkable team and its coach.

Although there are some scary moments here, and a lot of gruesome ones, this isn't a horror film so much as a faux eco-documentary.

It's only the movie's tendency to repeat itself and to stop for unnecessary scenes of character development that keep it from being a classically pure - which is to say, totally devious - caper movie.

The result is just a bigger, louder, more special effects-laden extension of a franchise that skated on pretty thin ice the first two times around.

Scarface is one of those special movies, like "The Godfather," that is willing to take a flawed, evil man and allow him to be human.

An uncommonly engaging comedy with ripe tragic undertones.

Annette Bening plays Julia in a performance that has great verve and energy, and just as well, because the basic material is wheezy melodrama.

Doug Liman’s American Made is a fast-paced, breezy and mostly upbeat action-comedy-thriller that turns the likes of Escobar and Noriega into laugh-producing supporting players — and somehow manages to pull off that trick without offensively minimizing the evil ways of those legendarily ruthless drug kingpins.

Caan is notably frail in appearance, but he gives a forceful, funny, warm and strong performance in one last tough-guy role. Brosnan is a graceful and generous screen partner. Seeing these two veterans effortlessly nailing their scenes is the best thing about this movie.

Bening is magnificent.