Almost entirely devoted to combat violence and sentimental interludes.

The depression drama is undermined by lumpy directing and by a flat performance from Steve Martin, who never approaches the dramatic eloquence he obviously has in mind. [24 Dec 1981, p.22]

Violence in the movies, no matter how many CGI effects are utilized, can't help but be far more luridly realistic. And, in the case of Wanted, to what end?

James Mangold follows up the promise of his excellent "Heavy" with this smartly written, superbly acted melodrama.

The screen-play was derived from long sessions of improvised acting, and some scenes are more like acting-class workshops than fully developed dramatic episodes. But the material is powerful and most of the performances are excellent. [13 Sep 1996, p.13]

Eric Eason's script is sometimes unduly contrived and derivative, but we are always aware that something larger is being played out.

Gretchen Mol is unrelentingly charming in the role and she almost - almost - makes you believe that someone as unclouded as this could actually exist. This film would go well on a double bill with "The Stepford Wives."

Wang's A Thousand Years of Good Prayers gives the impression of a director reborn, or at least a director who has his mojo back.

The gentle story, told via old-fashioned "flat" animation, is perfect for the very youngest viewers.

What damps down the psychological power of One Hour Photo is director Mark Romanek's reluctance to let the film become as idiosyncratically unnerving as its main character.

The movie elegantly mingles drama, comedy, and low-key spiritual resonance. It also has a splendid cast.

Like most of Sokurov's movies, this oblique parable is mysterious, elliptical, irresistible.

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

What gives the movie its poignancy – what turns it into something more than a polite entertainment – is Smith's role. Or, to be more exact, her performance, in tandem with Courtenay's.

Ridley Scott has made two iconic sci-fi films, "Alien" (1979) and "Blade Runner" (1982). Trying for a hat trick with Prometheus, he comes up short. I'll say this much for it – it's not boring.

Earnest, if not as informative as it might have been.

The film’s title is derived from a magical black stone of Persian lore that reputedly absorbs the burdens of those who speak to it until it crumbles – freeing the speaker of her troubles.

Janeane Garofalo and Uma Thurman make a bright-eyed comedy team in this romance.

Renoir at least looks like a great movie. If you want a full-scale immersion in this material, I recommend “Renoir, My Father,” Jean Renoir’s wonderful 1958 biography. This book is the touchstone for all matters Renoir, both père and fils.

It's almost impossible to watch this movie and not, on some level beyond reason, succumb. The Pursuit of Happyness is an expert piece of calculation: a male weepie engineered for the whole family.

Witty, contemplative, and sublimely beautiful.

An actress named Moon Bloodgood, who started out as a hip-hop dancer and Laker Girl before getting into movie and TV work, plays a bush pilot and sometime girlfriend of Jerry's. The role is bland but that name is great.

The implicit question overhanging the film: Is the political impetus to present only “positive” imagery of black people an injustice to the fullest range of their experience?

Has touches of quirky style to match its slightly edgy content.

Makhmalbaf continues her rise as Iran's most promising young female filmmaker, and Iranian cinema extends its reign as one of the world's most exciting cultural phenomena.

The story's rambling, meandering style is just right for the melancholy subject being explored, and all the acting is excellent.

The thriller's best and worst features all stem from a highly unusual plot structure that builds to a genuinely startling conclusion.

The multicultural cast gives a shred of substance to what's otherwise a standard adolescent gross-out flick.