Carrey gives an awesome comic performance.. Look out for huge amounts of deliberately disgusting, gross-out humor, though.

Deft and fast-moving, but shouldn’t a musical have at least a few songs you can hum on your way home?

AT once an old-fashioned adventure and a postmodern pastiche, The Quick and the Dead walks a slim tightrope with impressive skill and humor. Its main reference point is the work of Sergio Leone, the Italian maestro whose "spaghetti westerns" reinvigorated the genre during its last major phase about 30 years ago. [13 Feb 1995, p.13]

In short, this movie is exactly the kind of starry-eyed escapist fantasy that Dr. Powell suspects Prot of having. It's harmless enough, since we can be cured just by leaving the theater.

If a mildly magical story is what you're after, it'll be worth the price of admission. Otherwise save your milk money for something more substantial.

At a time when much public education is in a state of perilous decay, one wonders whether this sentimental ode to old-school dignity and privilege is in touch with today's pressing realities.

Chen Shi-Zheng, well regarded as an opera and theater director, makes his feature film debut.

His performance in Gold, as Kenny Wells, isn’t quite up to his Oscar-winning work in "Dallas Buyers Club," but it’s nevertheless a rousing feat without which this movie would have far less to recommend it.

Eric Stoltz and Julie Delpy have some effective moments, but energetic acting isn't enough to redeem the movie from its pointless excesses. [02 Sep 1994, p.11]

Thanks to director Zucker, this is by far the best installment yet -- there's less bathroom humor and more "Airplane!"-type lunacy.

Lee is very good at creating a sense of free-floating dread, but he, and his screenwriter Mark Protosevich, don’t have a real flair for pulp.

More cautionary than titillating...some of it (is) deliberately disturbing.

The movie is woven with care and complexity, again confirming von Trotta's place as one of the world's greatest female filmmakers.

It's refreshing to see a cartoon that looks like a cartoon -- and a lovingly drawn one -- rather than a conglomeration of computer-generated bits and bytes.

One of those movies designed as an Oscar make-over for its star. It didn’t work in this case. Aniston was not nominated for Best Actress, perhaps because the film is so obvious about what it’s up to.

Simon Pegg, of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz," is onscreen almost constantly in Run Fatboy Run, and his mugging and smirking and preening wear out their welcome fast.

The collision of sleek melodrama and old Woody Allen stand-up routines is at times oddly effective and at other times just odd.

Bay and his screenwriter, Chuck Hogan, adapting the nonfiction bestseller “13 Hours,” by Mitchell Zuckoff and the members of the Annex Security Team, resolutely avoid any overt political inferences.

There is nothing surprising about the way this overlong movie, written and directed by David Dobkin, plays itself out.

The picture is capably acted, especially by Andy Garcia and Uma Thurman, but it's also gory and much too long. [18 Dec 1992, p.12]

What's the point of the picture, except to allow Kutcher fans occasional peeks at acting talent he usually keeps hidden?

Unabashed "Star Wars" clone.

The story has inherent emotional power, but Jeremy Brock's formula-bound screenplay rarely soars beyond cliches.

It has a good heart, though, and makes an amiable introduction to the integration battles of the '60s and '70s.

All of the actresses are fun to watch, and as much attention appears to have been lavished on their outfits and hairdos as on their high-flying fight scenes.

The movie's main contribution is its fresh look at the Vietnam War, being refought in the Kerry-Bush presidential campaign at the time of the film's release.

What this film really celebrates is crunch-and-thud video-game-style action, not especially well choreographed by director Guy Ritchie.

The movie raises more interesting issues - often connected with the hazy lines between appearance and reality - than it's prepared to coherently explore.

All the old Disney trademarks are here, except the wit and surprise that were once the studio's stock in trade. There's little appeal to grownups, but kids should enjoy it.

A skeptical view of George W. Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, using argumentative strategies common to agenda-driven documentaries.

This rousing documentary directed by Kevin Tancharoen and shot during two live concerts in New Jersey, is a nonstop campy celebration of youthful pizazz.

I kept expecting Sacha Baron Cohen to traipse onto the scene. Alas, he doesn’t.

The nasty, sometimes violent story was written by Christian Forte, a newcomer who is clearly under Quentin Tarantino's unpleasant spell, and directed by Kevin Spacey, an unusually gifted actor who doesn't yet show any special talent for filmmaking.

It’s still a bit early in the long careers of these actors, especially Kline, to be playing creaky codgers. It’s bad enough when Hollywood casts women over the age of 30 as grandmothers-in-waiting. Now we have to endure an onslaught of famous veteran actors complaining about their hips.

Ultimately more exasperating than rewarding.

The result is hardly a subtle film, but it has a stronger sense of combat's real costs and consequences than more sensationalistic pictures like "Black Hawk Down" and "We Were Soldiers" provide.

The story may be too slow and complicated for the youngest moviegoers.

This likable comedy-drama gets most of its oomph from acting.

It's hard to enjoy this when you're barraged by bathroom humor, animal stunts, and gags about a character whose memory loss is so bad he's called Ten-Second Tom.

Too often the sequences in this movie play out like snatches from a terrific play that somehow got lost along the way.

Lively acting and an amiable comic atmosphere offer partial compensation for generally lackluster filmmaking.

The movie is fresh and friendly, but it doesn't have many surprises and the story sags at times. [25 Aug 1995, p.13]

Tomb Raider, sloppily directed by Roar Uthaug, would not be worth watching without Vikander, who darts, leaps, and pummels her way through this mediocre escapade with a winning fierceness that makes you wish she had paired up with Indiana Jones in his heyday.

The 1950s atmosphere is vivid and the cast is solid, except Diane Lane, who saves most of her energy for the unnecessary sex scenes. The story builds a good deal of momentum and then falls completely apart in the last 20 minutes or so. [09 Oct 1987, p.21]

The visuals are irrepressibly witty and so is the script, which morphs from the classic fable into a spoof on "War of the Worlds." I prefer this version to Spielberg's.

Tries to be daring and iconoclastic but winds up seeming as spoiled and childish as its main characters.

The more moralistic 21 gets, the less enjoyable it is.

The movie has moments of breathtaking suspense, at least until it lapses into cartoonish implausibility in the second half. With good acting and good dialogue it might actually have been a good picture.

Allen has fun with all his roles -- The rest of the acting is bland, but the movie's preteen target audience won't mind, and adults will find occasional grown-up jokes to chuckle at.

Although this is a likable comedy-drama, it never quite balances its humanitarian message (disabled people fall in love like everyone else) with its standard-issue romantic angles.

Plenty of surprises, almost all of them nasty.

Altogether fascinating.

Although the first hour builds effective suspense, the story sags into a warmed-over combination of The Silence of the Lambs and both versions of Cape Fear, and the violent climax looks like it was shot in an Everglades theme park. [17 Feb 1995, p.13]

A central dictum of any mystery thriller is this: Make your protagonists, especially your villains, worth caring about. The Girl on the Train, directed by Tate Taylor from a script by Erin Cressida Wilson, falls down on the job.

The story has possibilities, but you'll spot the big plot twists long before they happen, and the acting by Judd and Cavaziel is strictly by the numbers.

Most of the time we see her through Hal's idealizing eyes, though -- no surprise, since Hollywood won't let glittery stars like Paltrow play down their sex appeal for long.

An OK action film, but only the humorless will find it heretical – or educational.

The result is a quickly paced, slickly filmed entertainment that's also as crude and rude as the PG-13 rating will allow. It's mighty mean-spirited too, aiming "satirical jibes" at everyone from black illiterates to white rednecks, from breakers of the law to enforcers of the law, from society's elites to society's dregs.

The problem with this year-by-year structure is that the slow crawl to the end can seem agonizing if the film isn't engaging. And One Day, despite strenuous attempts by all involved to make us laugh, cry, and laugh-cry, is more likely to induce winces. We've seen it all before – and better.

Touching and sentimental.

This is a half-baked movie about a half-baked person, but it has a fine, melancholic afterglow.

At its best, the movie makes you feel like a kindred spirit.

This half-baked fairy tale always seems to be on the verge of becoming charming but despite a good cast it never quite succeeds.

Granted, this is not automatic laugh-riot material, nor should it be, but didn’t Fey recognize how hackneyed it all is? Does being a movie star mean blanding out everything that makes you special?

The story has charming and uplifting moments as well as strong performances by an impressive cast.

Khouri's new picture takes all this talent and turns it into the kind of manipulative mush that Hollywood used to market under the condescending label "woman's picture" years ago.

This uneven drama might have been more effective if someone with more on-screen charisma than writer-director Elster had played the main character.

Wesley Snipes is terrific as the hero.

Landmark musical performances from countless stars draw attention from a mediocre plot. [20 Feb 1998, p.B2]

A lively portrait of contemporary painter George Condo.

Surprisingly, this is the work of director Martin Ritt and Sally Field, the star whose Norma Rae combined sharp drama with keen social awareness. Their new film is the junky underside of that good movie. [26 Mar 1981, p.19]

Moving from the Dark Ages of old Europe to the Lite Ages of new California, this brash comedy pits a Valley Girl against a vampire. Kristy Swanson heads the likable cast, with Donald Sutherland and Paul Reubens in standout supporting performances. [31 Jul 1992].

Monumentally unromantic.

No better than the first – which means it will probably be creamed by critics and make a jillion dollars. But really, standards are standards.

The infuriating thing about XXX isn't that it delivers thrills and spills to moviegoers who don't know any better, but that its Hollywood hype reinforces the notion that brain-dead entertainment is what movies are all about.

More emphasis on computer-generated gimmickry than on persuasive acting and ideas.

The screenplay isn't remotely as funny as it tries to be, and the visual style is equally unexciting.

Rambling, meandering, likable.

Sometimes, dear reader, there's no place like home, and that's just where you should be when this gorefest opens at a theater near you.

The whole thing is piffle, but it moves fast enough to stay entertaining.

Most of it plays out as sub-medium-grade farce, but Carrey has some funny calisthenic bits where he appears to have the pliability of a rubber toy.

The dialogue isn't quite as sparkling and the plot twists aren't quite as snappy as you want them to be. And the story keeps rambling on after its oomph runs wearisomely thin.

Enough odd twists to be mildly interesting.

The kind of comedy that aims at "edginess" and "sassiness" without managing to be edgy or sassy for a second.

The action is as perky as the main characters.

Gripping.

Grim and sordid though it often is, the film has a steady flow of visually absorbing images. It's an art movie for the masses.

Because Crowe is hamstrung by his role, he never strikes the requisite sparks with Cotillard. This is quite an achievement, since her beauty is on par with Provence's.

It’s nice to see oldsters cavorting in kaboom movies, but a little of this stuff goes a long way.

Runs out of good ideas long before it's over, falling below "Prizzi's Honor" and "The Freshman" in the dubious genre of contract-killer comedies.

Parker is bland throughout. Maybe all those episodes of "Sex and the City" have soured her on this sort of thing.

This energetically acted, creatively directed comedy-drama has every ingredient for success except a satisfying finale.

This historical fantasy is too ambitious for its own good, but contains some striking imagery and likable performances.

Figgis still deserves credit for taking more artistic chances than a dozen ordinary directors.

Olyphant steals the show as a cheeky porn producer. The rest is gimmicky and predictable, except for a clever surprise near the end.

I suppose it's a good thing that this movie has so many crisscrossing subplots. If one gaggle of whiners gets on your nerves, rest assured the scenery will soon change and another will take center stage.

Written and directed by the clever Wachowski brothers, this is a sequel that only a die-hard fan could love. But those fans will love it very, very much.

Soppy, schematic weepie.