What keeps The Mosquito Coast from being a great movie is too much caution.

The film would work better if its story unfolded more swiftly and if its twists were more unexpected. The acting is solid, though.

Where's the real 007 when we really need him? Or better yet -- Calling Inspector Clouseau!

The casting of both Riegert and Allen may sound like an "Animal House" reunion, but the two have no scenes together.

The film includes graphic omnisexual and incestuous couplings and has an air of free-floating dread but, especially given its subject matter, it's oddly vacuous – it rarely takes hold emotionally even when its people hit bottom with a resounding thud.

The film is never less than intelligent and never more than accomplished.

Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams do their best with a silly screenplay, and there are a few genuine laughs along the way. [20 Dec 1991]

If these talented people had worthwhile things to do, No Small Affair would be no small movie. But the action has many weak moments, and the subplots are trite, especially when the trendy bachelor-party scene arrives. Too bad the screenplay, by Charles Bolt and Terence Mulcahy, doesn't live up to the cast or to Vilmos Zsigmond's careful cinematography. [13 Nov 1984, p.47]

The only real acting in this movie comes from Janet McTeer and Charles Dance as Will’s aggrieved parents. They bring some ballast to this blubberfest.

Just because The Fountain is different doesn't mean it's good. In fact, it's borderline unwatchable, though this hasn't prevented the Oscar buzz from buzzing.

The best is "Equilibrium" by Soderbergh, about a man being analyzed by a distracted shrink.

Fantasy-style plot doesn't mesh easily with the unsettling psychological themes woven through it.

Een fans of Jay and Silent Bob may find the story too slender and the jokes too repetitive to be much fun.

The funny scenes are as far apart as oases in the Sahara. [22 May 1987]

If you are not already familiar with Williams’s best plays and film adaptations, this musty magnolia of a movie won’t encourage you to seek them out.

Director Gavin O’Connor and screenwriter Bill Dubuque have made a textbook example of the "what were they thinking?" movie genre. Judging from the befogged look on some of the actors’ faces, they must have been wondering the same thing.

It's all deliberately homemade and raggedy, and that's where its charm comes from, along with the delightful old-music score.

The Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai has an undeservedly high reputation as a master stylist. He's more like a master window dresser.

The computer-driven effects are impressive, but the adventure is hampered by a flat screenplay, dull acting, and just a hint as to why the dark side of the Force will eventually transform cute little Anakin into the evil Darth Vader.

The willingness to blend professionals and nonprofessionals is Duvall's most interesting directorial trademark. Most commercial filmmakers hesitate to use this technique, but he doesn't see it as risky.

His drug-smuggling underworld, specifically the Amsterdam-New York connection, is likewise drably depicted. Is this because director Kevin Asch and screenwriter Antonio Macia deliberately played it down, or are they just incompetent? I’ll be charitable and vote for the former, but sometimes sensationalism is preferable to being altogether unsensational.

The eerie tale is steeped in brooding atmosphere and psychological suspense thanks to Glazer's hugely imaginative visual style and creative use of music, sound, and silence.

Once around the block with these folks is more than enough.

The material is vivid and harrowing, although the movie provides little analysis or larger-scale context.

Gallo's earlier work suggests he has directorial talent, but here it's buried beneath too much ego to be detectible.

Something happens to Robin Williams in serious roles. He becomes so drab that it's almost as if he's trying to efface himself from the screen.

So why is everything so thuddingly fun-free?

Don't be taken in by Taken.