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.

A very uneven dark comedy.

This dramatic comedy is an Italian style "Mean Girls" when Castellito isn't stealing the show as a dysfunctional dad.

You may not literally laugh or cry, as the ads promise. But you'll have a good time watching the dream-fulfilling denims make their comic-romantic rounds.

Yedaya's prizewinning debut film is acted and directed with uncommon psychological realism.

Touching, transfixing, unique.

Humane, unsentimental, eye-opening.

The result is a quickly paced, slickly filmed entertainment that's also as crude and rude as the PG-13 rating will allow. It's mighty mean-spirited too, aiming "satirical jibes" at everyone from black illiterates to white rednecks, from breakers of the law to enforcers of the law, from society's elites to society's dregs.

The animation is deft but the screenplay is stilted, the voice-performances are unimaginative, and the whole project is surprisingly clumsy in its efforts to please young and old alike. A major disappointment.

Well acted and ably directed, if not very probing about its subject of underclass youth.

This is moviemaking on the highest dramatic, psychological, and moral plane.

While the movie is strong on the history of its subject, it allows some yawns to enter its own account of a big, heavily hyped tournament. Still, it's very entertaining.

Nicely acted.

Faucher's filmmaking is exquisite, Naymark's acting is luminous, and superb use of music lends a crowning touch.

The material is right up Schrader's alley, and while his vision of the first "Exorcist" chapter isn't a masterpiece, it's far superior to the Renny Harlin prequel to "The Exorcist" released last year.

Comically grotesque, strikingly filmed.

On the action-adventure level it's a sure-fire delight for fans, a punchy entertainment for average sci-fi buffs, and a colorful rocket-ride for moviegoers who just want a good time on Saturday night.

A gripping documentary, although we learn too little of the relationship between the filmmaker and his subjects.

Wrenching on both personal and political levels.

Some scenes are just silly, others are dead-on uproarious. Ditka, a real-life football legend, is a real find as our hero's assistant.

The comedy is shamelessly stupid and flagrantly vulgar by turns.

Luc Besson's screenplay is dumb, but has just enough weird touches to give occasional glimmers of interest.

At heart this is a cuteness exploitation flick.

Based on a novel by French provocateur Georges Bataille, an important thinker whose fiction rarely translates into good cinema.

It's hugely ambitious, with a sweeping range of character types, frequently shifting moods, stylistic flourishes of many kinds, and some mighty wry satire, aimed largely at the world of psychotherapy.

A fascinating glimpse of family love and rivalry, if not a deep-digging documentary of "My Architect" quality.

As a frightfest it's better than today's average.

Bottom line: Kingdom of Heaven is the most exciting action-adventure yarn so far this year. Just don't expect anything deeper.