About two-thirds of the way through, Rendition takes a bad turn and sells out most of what made it worth watching in the first place. Witherspoon is given little to do except look weepy, Freeman's change of heart is Q.E.D., and the radical Islamist subplot overwhelms the action, which becomes so confusingly structured that I thought the projectionist had misplaced a reel.

It’s a strange movie – simultaneously rawly realistic and airbrushed.

I wish the film, which is mostly a standard-issue talking-heads-and-clips affair, had showcased more of her performing, but what we see still justifies her fleeting fame.

Since Mr. Bean rarely speaks a complete sentence, the effect is of watching a silent movie with sound effects. This was also the dramatic ploy of the great French director-performer Jacques Tati, who is clearly the big influence here.

The tone of uplift is earned. Larraín’s unarguable point is that, in politics, if we wait for good to issue only from the pure in heart, we will be waiting a very long time.

Old-style animation slows down after a snappy start, but it's lively enough to keep kids from fidgeting too much.

Bardem is brilliant.

What this film is really about is how interconnected we all are, like it or not, on the Internet, and how alluring and alarming this can be.

A romantic kung-fu comedy with a good heart.

Merchant brings keen insight and rich humanity to this culturally revealing tale of psychological unease in a tense postcolonial world.

What have the Yes Men actually accomplished with their japery? Their film is an inadvertent reminder that activist antics are not the same thing as reform.

Lots of lively tunes and spirited acting.

The coach is certainly an offensive goofball, and the Bears are certainly a pack of hard-to-handle whippersnappers. But the picture's point is that surfaces don't tell the whole story about people, about teams, or about anything.

Kathy Bates gives her most gripping performance since "Misery," also based on a Stephen King thriller. The picture is weakened by a rambling and inconsistent screenplay.

Ross manages to keep the pacing remarkably swift, given that the games themselves don't start until halfway through the 144-minute running time.

The acting is excellent.

Maybe the movie does so much dawdling and meandering so we'll have more time to bask in their presence; in any case, the otherwise pleasant picture uses up its ideas long before it uses up its running time.

One of the season's most watchable treats.

De Felitta dodges the temptations of sentiment and preachiness.

Unexpectedly subtle cinematic style.

There are enough pleasantries and good jests in this new film to make a meal.

You may find the film as outrageous as it is outlandish, and Bowery would have taken that as a compliment.

Which is not to say the movie is anything less than diverting. It’s just that diverting is often all it is.

If I had to give a two-word review of Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life, it would be: "Wow! Huh??"

The acting is amiable and the story is crisply told.

Bee Season, at its core, is about something powerful: The ways in which family members wreak destruction on each other with the best of intentions.

The film could be more adept and probing, but the ladies - Cleo Hayes, Marion Coles, Elaine Ellis, Fay Ray, and Geri Kennedy - are delightful.

It will frustrate viewers who like stories to make instant sense, but fans of provocative puzzles will have mind-teasing fun.