L.A. Confidential is at the same time his (Hanson) most personal movie and Hollywood filmmaking at its best.

A very funny film that never sacrifices the lives of its characters to the needs of its story.

One of the best films of the year, a polished, contained piece of provocation.

Best of all are the supporting players. Everett (who played the Prince of Wales in "The Madness of King George") is smartly urbane, giving a polished refinement to the stereotypical "gay best buddy'' role.

A very pleasant experience in watching life unfold in its own direction and time.

I see Austin Powers as Myers' desperate cry for help -- a plea to stop him before he does schtick again.

Armitage, Cusack and his Evanston chums have their work cut out for them to turn a stone killer into a sympathetic romantic character. That they succeed in such a shrewdly funny way is downright amazing.

Its honesty and insights are refreshing.

Forman imbues the material with exactly the right dry, satirical flavor, yet this story is still a Frank Capra little-guy-against-the-system picture.

Craven creates his savviest and most frightening movie since the original "A Nightmare on Elm Street" by spoofing the horror cliches and simultaneously reinventing them to scare you all over again.

The engine that drives Jerry Maguire is Cruise, giving the kind of performance that all but deconstructs his recent series of glib leading-man roles.

(Thornton) does a remarkable job in all three categories, but what you're likely to remember most clearly is his performance.

A very moving and surprisingly funny experience.

Minghella shapes Ondaatje's sprawling story into something miraculously cohesive, and at the movie's center is one of the most compelling love stories in recent memory.

Whether or not Breaking the Waves succeeds as a profound work is something that's hard to say after one viewing, but it is certainly a wholly original piece of work.

This is a pretty leaden cinematic experience.

So meticulously acted that you feel you're reading the characters' minds.

There's an almost natty precision about this picture that's so rare these days in American movies that it provides satisfaction in itself.

A surprisingly vital film.

Uniquely fascinating.

Overpraised, intellectually soft, narratively unfocused, and thematically ambivalent.

Someone should confiscate Mann's synthesizer. Just when a scene starts rolling along, this synth beat fades in and destroys the mood.

Funny, expansive, and a delight to spend company with.

This might have been a very good movie if it had lost about one of its three hours.

Furiously uncompromising, and therefore absolutely alive.

Director Barry Sonnenfeld captures Hollywood in sunny tones, with fluid camera moves providing maximum comic effect.

Van Sant and crew appear to have had a blast making this film, and I had a blast watching it. The subject matter is very dark and yet it is handled with a very light touch.

An imaginative and disturbing work; well worth a look.