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.