It seems like a slam-dunk pitch -- "Pretty Woman" with the genders reversed -- but there's one major problem: The whole hooker-fantasy bit is much more of a guy thing.

Jones seems to have trouble keeping up with the large amount of action he's required to participate in. And Del Toro seems ill-cast and ill-used.

What about the activists (gay and straight) who want to secure legal benefits for all citizens, not just married ones?

The real find-- is Rosario Dawson, who has appeared to good effect in previous smaller roles ("Kids," "He Got Game") and just about walks off with the movie.

It's a skillfully made film, but not especially fun to watch, and the apparent thesis that poverty justifies such acts doesn't quite wash.

Rare is the star vehicle that is as poorly matched to its star as Drillbit Taylor, which casts Owen Wilson as a homeless Army deserter and con man, able to fool people into believing he's both a substitute teacher and a master of hand-to-hand combat.

Where Bowling for Columbine is at its most valuable is in its examination of America's culture of fear as a root cause of gun violence.

If you've never seen a Sandler movie, however, this isn't the one to start with. Proceed only if you're sure you like the guy.

The love story, not to mention plot holes large enough to swallow entire platoons, so bogs down the story that whatever tension the Vassili-Konig confrontation creates disappears every time Weisz appears on-screen; she tears apart comrades--and the movie.

Drowns in vanilla carnality.

Ambitious in scope and humble in execution.

It's a mess, absolutely, more a collage than a narrative.

The producers of this glorified latter-day frieze have gone nuts for computer-generated extras without clinching the essentials of character and catharsis.

If the Star Wars movies have taught us anything, it's that waiting 20 years for a new sequel by a guy named George can lead to disappointment.

This half-hearted, half-witted remake of Robert Aldrich's compelling 1965 tale of survival, ingenuity, and teamwork generates no heat.

For all the affection Mangold feels for Cash and Carter, the movie feels oddly dispassionate.

Ferrell and Warner, however, are distractions--the obligatory dose of "eccentricity" thrown in as seasoning to make the real story more digestible. But they serve instead as irritants; too much spice, if you will.

The whole project feels lazy and half-hearted.

The various talents on display aren't enough to overcome the sheer blandness of the material.

A top-notch cast compensates for dubious credibility.

Moore's likable and Goode's good. But . . . so what?

The film is beautifully shot and well-acted, but, like the book, it never achieves anything like the import of the stories that inspired it. Balzac is even a little dull, especially toward the end.

Just another baseball movie hitting for average -- very average.

Yet another version of the conscience-stricken white soldier Kevin Costner played in "Dances With Wolves" and the Indian killer-turned-noble warrior Tom Cruise gave us in "The Last Samurai."

The voice acting is adequate, but it fails to convey the diversity or personality of "Chicken Run" or "Shrek."

As detached and unfocused as a college pothead. And about as much fun.

Isn't a bad movie by conventional standards, just a boring one.

For the large-type crowd, one that prefers to have its "dirty" clean and silly.