Quirky acting combines with Ferrara's dark, brooding style to give the throwaway story a noteworthy measure of dramatic and cinematic interest.

You won't find a load of laughs in 13 Going on 30, but there's plenty of whimsy, which is a close cousin of genuine humor.

The movie is mostly a megadose of good-old-days nostalgia.

We’re still essentially in the Land of Retread: An outer space voyage turns grisly-ghastly as gloppy, befanged creatures invade the crew’s innards and pop out – gotcha! – right on cue.

The dialogue swings between platitudes and clichés, but the acting is lively and the music will set even lazy toes tapping.

The movie takes no particular stance on the controversies surrounding its heroine, seen by some as a self-serving egomaniac and others as a tireless champion of the poor. Nor can much insight be gleaned from Madonna's energetic but oddly impersonal performance.

The story has too many trite moments, but strong acting and a goodhearted attitude keep it afloat.

Starts cleverly but becomes more preposterous as it goes along.

In the end there's more nasty behavior than constructive insight.

Three brief comedies filmed in English for a German television series. The most thoughtful is Seidelman's contribution, The Dutch Master."

It’s all terribly cliché-ridden and predictable, and the best I can say for it is that Shannon and Gugino do their best to convince us otherwise.

The movie seems sincere in wanting to explore rather than exploit its subject, but any potential insights are cut off by too-obvious characterizations and plot twists. [04 Apr 1986, p.23]

Audiences may howl at the hackneyed plot and dialogue, but you won't hear them over the Dolby sound effects assaulting your eardrums at a gazillion decibels.

Admirers of their MTV series will find a few laughs in this animated odyssey. Others will find it as repetitious as it is vulgar.

The story matters less than the style, full of swooping camera movements, rapid-fire editing, and color-drenched displays of violence the Hong Kong school is famous for.

As a movie, it's mediocre.

As it is, “Mockingjay,” a big bore, suffers from being the transitional event before the big showdown.

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

There are multiple murders and two gory scenes, but if you love getting scared, then you'll enjoy this thrill ride.

The story is so sentimental that even soap-opera buffs may feel it outwears its welcome.

The movie is just plain muddled - showing the Hoffa forces performing a heinous crime one minute, then glamorizing and sentimentalizing them as if the other stuff had never happened.

The bloom is decidedly off the pinkish rose. Martin has a few inspired moments but in order to get to them you have to wade through a mosh pit of unfunny gags.

The story grows sillier as it goes along, culminating in a final switcheroo that's about as deep as the comic-book ideas that inspired the plot.

The results are more sleazy than insightful.

This pitch-black comedy is less lurid than its title, but director Danny Boyle ultimately fritters away his psychologically rich story in a horror-flick finale.

Much of the historical horrorfest is more frenetic than fascinating. Look out for bursts of over-the-top violence.

Goony, so-so comedy.

Don't race to see it unless a female "Full Monty" is just what you've been waiting for.