Not Without My Daughter ultimately does what it's supposed to do. It makes us care, it keeps us interested (mostly), but it rarely delivers more -- despite what the producers might think. [11 Jan 1991, p.G13]

Cujo is one of those nightmares that does not require even the suspension of disbelief. Anyone who can accept that there are dogs, people and cars that don't work can be scared silly by this movie. And, of course, the caveat: Anyone who takes a young child to Cujo needs to have his head examined. [15 Aug 1983, p.C6]

In a movie world jam-packed with teen-agers and computers and fantastic beings, it's refreshing to encounter a film that finds its laughs in the warmth and absurdities of adult interaction. Let the other critics hang Legal Eagles. This jury of one says see it. [20 June 1986, p.D1]

What makes this documentary worth seeing is the sensational courtside footage taken with IMAX cameras, which bring a whole new way of seeing the game to fans who don't get to sit in Jack Nicholson's section.

In the wake of TV's powerhouse "The Shield," Dark Blue comes off as something of a retread, with little of "The Shield's" electric fury, edgy camera work or deft characterizations.

Funny even when it relies heavily on age-old, old-age gags.

Stories about scientists doubting what they know to be true — "Contact," for example — can be provocative and engaging, on an intellectual and emotional level. But I Origins challenges too little and ties up things too neatly for it to register as anything more than well-made, well-intentioned hogwash.

Unfinished Song is full of predictably poignant moments; you’d be lucky to survive the film dry-eyed.

Casanova doesn't seduce so much as lull the audience into a stupor with tedious blather about the battle of the sexes, intermittent but pointless swordplay and clumsy slapstick.

Phillips keeps the movie funny and riotous without glamorizing his characters’ misdeeds. The film is a comedy, but it’s never trivial, and the filmmakers don’t let the government’s participation in what transpired slip by unnoticed.

Pine, who has been so good and so instrumental in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek series as Captain Kirk, turns out to be a decent Ryan.

Not even Sherlock Holmes could make much sense out of the overplotted, murky mess that is "Sherlock Holmes," although Arthur Conan Doyle's legendarily brainy detective would probably never buy a ticket to a movie as elephant-footed as this one.

Born in East L.A. is a real middle-of-the-roader as comedies go -- not hysterically funny, sort of laid back in pace, with a plot as substantial as the peso -- but its heart is as warm as an enchilada. [22 Aug 1987, p.B4]

Shrill and sloppy film.

Lacks the one element that the filmmakers were most desperately aiming for: A genuine sense of fun.

Poitier is Poitier, and that, after such a dry spell, is reason enough to see the movie. [12 Feb 1988, p.C5]

Patronizing, dull and offensive, this drama about a knight in shining white skin out to serve justice in the name of po' black folk is Hollywood at its sanctimonious, bleeding-heart worst: A movie made by people who are sitting so high up on their hills, they long ago stopped realizing they're looking down at the world. [03 Jan 1997, p.5G]

Though its violence is searing and brutal, the film, about four FBI agents investigating a terrorist attack in Saudi Arabia, shows a conscience and a brain, and if it explains things a bit simplistically at times, so much the better.

The most entertaining segments involve the gang's spontaneous and wholly inappropriate song-and-dance numbers. It's impossible not to chuckle when the movie's six fashion victims break into stiff choruses of Sha Na Na as passersby gawk. Aw, heck. If loving the Bradys is wrong, we don't want to be right. [23 Aug 1996, p.7G]

When it was first shown at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival just days before Sept. 11, this movie seemed darkly, grimly comic. Today, though, it often just seems grim.

All this has nothing to do with the movie's dragged-out and contrived plot, which unfolds predictably and much too slowly. Still, the performances are quite good, except for Jeanne Tripplehorn (Basic Instinct ) as Sam's girlfriend, an eccentric performance artist; she grates on your nerves the minute she's onscreen and grows more aggravating from there. [4 May 1993, p.E5]

It is to director Tykwer's credit that, although you never come close to understanding Jean-Baptiste, you don't turn your nose up at him, either.

The sad thing about Rising Sun is that for all the controversy surrounding the book, it plays as just another cop drama set against an alien landscape. As so often happens in Hollywood these days, the alien locale is Los Angeles, an L.A. under assault from within and without. Rising Sun the movie doesn't have all that much to say about that condition. It sticks to the safe stuff. [30 July 1993, p.G4]

The success of The Lizzie McGuire Movie, in which Duff acts and sings while playing both her beloved character and an Italian look-alike, is probably a slam dunk. That doesn't mean it's a great movie.

Amped to the max, with firepower and fisticuffs flying, this is Bond as we have come to know him in the post-Roger Moore years: bigger, badder, better.

Dark Blue World's warm story and beautiful photography almost hits the mark, and it has a great ending.

Just isn't very scary.

Fever Pitch is surprisingly devoid of jokes, or romance, or any of the other basic elements you'd expect to find in a romantic comedy. The only thing the Farrellys get right is the obsession.

Shockingly, it's an understated but amusing Ferrell who keeps Winter Passing from growing unbearable.

"Ghost movies" have been a Hollywood staple at least since It's a Wonderful Night, and this is one of the better of them. It's a tearjerker, though. Go prepared. [13 Aug 1993, p.G5]

Across the Universe can't achieve the transcendence and exhilaration musicals strive for, but it often generates a singular kind of magic you've never experienced before.

Not since "To Live and Die in L.A" has there been such a raw, cynical vision of living and dying in L.A.

Obsession is central to the film's thesis, such as it is. The characters don't converse so much as hold forth, and Greenaway presents the landmark buildings of Rome tableaux with a devotion that seems quite fierce. Dennehy is eye-rolling good as the tormented Kracklite. But what does it all mean? [20 Nov 1987, p.D6]

A Middle Ages "Rocky" that spares no cliche in its unduly long, 2 1/4 hours.

The best stuff in Human Nature comes early, while the movie is still spry and daring --Then the film runs out of ideas, repetition sets in and so does boredom.

Fabulously perverted comedy.

Like a cross between "Man on Fire" and "Bad Boys 2," this demolition derby delivers eye-popping action sequences that would make even the Roadrunner roll his eyes in disbelief.

Due to its good humor and terrific story, Million Dollar Arm is always engaging; its power lies in its feel-good charm.

The bulk of Religulous is a passionate but misguided attempt by Maher to stimulate the 16 percent of the American population who deem themselves non-religious into standing up and being counted.

Ironweed is the love story of two bums, the swan song of a haunted man, a character study of abiding humanity. It's a sad movie. Beautiful, too. [12 Feb 1988, p.C1]

The Family Stone should have been a glittering holiday bauble along the lines of the irresistible Love Actually. Instead, Bezucha stuffs into our stockings what he thinks is good for us. It's not coal, but it's not entirely what we were hoping for, either.

You may not remember The Crazies in a month, but you'll have a grand time watching it.

The movie is heavy on shock and gimmickry, thanks to Renny Harlin's frenetic and flamboyant direction. The wafer-thin plot is little more than an excuse to showcase the astonishing achievements of special-effects makeup artists. [19 Aug 1988, p.D9]

So, even though Iron Will, about a teen who enters a 522- mile dogsled race to save the family farm, seems fresh, you can bet you've seen it before. Still, it sure is fun. [17 Jan 1994, p.C6]

The most daring thing about Adam, the story of a young man with Asperger's syndrome, is that there isn't a scene in which someone stops to explain exactly what Asperger's IS.

Claire Dolan leaves you as unfulfilled as Claire feels after having sex with one of her johns.

A ferociously entertaining and mean little horror movie that achieves the kind of outrageous vibe best enjoyed in a crowded, noisy theater.

In I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, the night grows long while your eyelids grow heavy.

Race never delves under the skins of its characters, because they’re intended to be used only as symbols — reminders of an important chapter in history rendered quaint by this noble but patronizing movie.

The movie takes a completely apolitical look at the lives of its three main characters, focusing not on their differences but on how, in a way, they are trapped by their cultures.

Watchmen is a spectacularly violent movie.

There's very little in The Chorus you haven't seen before, but the movie's depth of sentiment -- especially its profound humanism -- makes it worth experiencing again.

Though Mermaids moves in familiar circles, it tells its story (which is as much about mom's coming of age as the kids') in a nice mix of daft comedy and dramatic set pieces. It's a kind of Terms of Endearment without the tearjerking. [14 Dec 1990, p.G5]

Too much of Lords of Dogtown still feels conventional and sugar-coated.

A passable adaptation of Kinney's novel, but no replacement for the real thing. Read the book, then see the movie.

The most memorable scene in Invaders belongs to Louise Fletcher (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest). She also turns in the best performance as the school marm who, after the Martians get to her, gobbles a bullfrog and becomes the movie's gleeful and insane Madame LaFarge. [14 June 1986, p.C6]

Focus is a shiny, stylish shell game of a film that, much like its protagonists, relies on breezy chatter, a good sense of humor and a lot of misdirection to succeed.

Unlike last year's "Coco Before Chanel," in which Audrey Tautou played a warmer, kinder spirit, Mouglais presents her character as steely and unbending, a woman who has built her empire on her terms and refuses to abdicate the slightest control on her life.

True to form, How to Eat Fried Worms forgoes flatulence jokes for positive examples.

Leatherheads goes on a good 20 minutes too long, and there's very little in it that makes a lasting impression, but it's easy to watch while it's unspooling -- much like, you know, a lot of Cary Grant comedies.

Spacey, whose precise command of enunciation and diction, along with his wicked, reptilian charm, are strong enough to carry the show.

It manages just to be pleasant.

While Cacoyannis' film may not be totally faithful to the master's pen, for literature students and theater lovers, this Cherry Orchard is a rare treat.

If not exactly epic, the movie is certainly the biggest and most complex of Rodriguez's Mariachi trilogy, which began in "El Mariachi" and continued in "Desperado."

The entire movie rides on Paul Kaye's performance.

But unlike most teen dance films, Girls Just Want to Have Fun does not dwell over long on boogie, even though it motivates the plot and allows the filmmakers to show off beautiful young bodies. Metter and his associates know that, finally, sizzle must also have steak. Or at least ground round. [11 May 1985, p.C7]

Extreme Measures is a medical thriller with two personalities. At times, it's a drama about doctors with God complexes and a moral debate on questions such as, "If you had to kill one person to cure cancer, would you?"...Other times, it's a mystery about nefarious scientists, missing corpses and foot chases in the bowels of New York's subways...Neither side really works, though for a while the movie engrosses anyway. Even when you know you're being manipulated, Extreme Measures intrigues you in a Coma kind of way, because it initially preys on the same fears as that earlier thriller: vulnerability in hospitals at the hands of evil doctors...Then the mystery starts to unravel, and so does the movie. [27 Sept 1996, p.5G]

Much like the good westerns, Coastlines keeps you entertained throughout its two hours, which says a lot about Nunez's storytelling.

The film improves once the assassination attempt goes awry, but the audience is never truly invested in the actions of these heroic men.

A big part of the problem comes in the casting. Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes - the kind of odd pairing of actors that comes only after your first and second choices have passed - are unconvincing and curiously unsympathetic as the architect Alex and his girlfriend.

Once the guns come out, and the car crashes begin, Date Night loses the funny.

Despite its slight and vaguely silly premise, Driving Lessons turns out to be sweet, never cloying, and amusing in an understated British way.

Chow Yun-Fat is the only reason to see Anna and the King -- the only thing you'll remember from this lavish, tastefully dull movie.

Compare Sylvia to another, more powerful film about a tragic literary death: "Iris," about Iris Murdoch's descent into Alzheimer's, leaves you with an aching heart and reddened eyes. After the equally sorrowful Sylvia, we are entertained but unmoved.

The most interesting aspect of Danny Deckchair, though, may be that the film is based on the true story.

Baier's style is almost uncomfortably voyeuristic, amplified by the casting of a young, inexperienced actor (Pierre Chatagny) in a part that calls for hardcore sex.

Don't blame Ormond, who is being vigorously groomed to be the next Julia Roberts in the days before Lyle Lovett. On screen, the poised Brit already has broken the hearts of some of the biggest hunks in Hollywood, from Brad Pitt (Legends of the Fall ) to Sean Connery and Richard Gere (First Knight ). Sabrina probably won't be her breakout film -- it's just not good enough -- though she's charming enough as a beguiling ingenue. [15 Dec 1995, p.6G]

In The Arrival, Charlie Sheen makes a startling discovery that, sadly, has nothing to do with the suspicion that he should have ended his flagging movie career ages ago. [31 May 1996, p.6G]

You may not be able to keep your lunch down after viewing his film, but you'll at least be momentarily intrigued. [24 Sep 1987, p.C6]

As far as its plot mechanics go, The Brave One belongs to the hallowed (if less-than-respectable) genre of exploitative revenge pictures.

What makes Wolf Creek so effective is not its originality (which, let's face it, is practically non-existent), or even its amount of gore (the violence is implied more often than it's shown), but the ways in which McLean tweaks the usual formulas, so what you think is going to happen next almost never does.

Unknown is never boring, and Collet-Serra mostly keeps up a lively pace, but he doesn't do the movie any favors with the flat, dull way he films the scene in which we finally learn what's going on.

A big, rambling, entertaining love letter to the late Hunter S. Thompson.

Angry, potentially offensive movie.

So Doc Hollywood is warm and cuddly and not at all loathsome. It is much better suited to television than to the big screen, though it does serve to showcase Warner, who is attractive and engaging. And durn it all, you just can't hate it. [02 Aug 1991, p.G5]

Starts out feeling formidable in scope and theme but ends up awfully small and precious.

For all its anything-goes, Death Becomes Her never really cuts loose. The director, Robert Zemeckis, had big hits with the three Back to the Future films and with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Clearly, he's comfortable with pricey effects. But maybe that's all he knows. There's a great, slashing satire inside this movie, whining to be let out. [31 July 1992, p.G5]

Midlands finds some measure of success in its use of regular, real-looking people -- as opposed to the oddly glamorous characters who turn up in most romantic comedies -- but it's as though the writer used up all the personality traits before he got to Shirley.

If nothing else, the movie proves even the rich and famous make boring home videos.

Loud and frantic and filled with all sorts of business, but it's also empty and inert, a creative exercise that would have played better as a 30-minute short.

Irritating when it should be amusing, dumb when it should be zany, flat when it should be snappy.

For a movie whose characters are so preoccupied with immortality, Troy is curiously forgettable.

An enchanting romantic comedy between two lost souls in the most unexpected of places.

In an effort to turn Brashear's life into a larger-than-life sermon, Men of Honor almost manages to make it all feel like an overbearing crock.

The result is a rare live-action Disney movie that merits comparison to its beloved feature-length cartoons.

Even at 85 minutes, Throw Momma From the Train seems flabby; it's out of jokes before an hour is up. [11 Dec 1987, p.D5]

Mild and unassuming, the movie gleans its modest charm from Clooney and Pfeiffer's chaste flirtation, much like Doris Day and Rock Hudson did 40 years ago: There are no hot-blooded boudoir scenes here. Like its sensible co-stars, One Fine Day has both feet firmly planted on terra firma. [20 Dec 1996, p.6G]

Bottle Shock often feels out of place on the big screen, but it would probably play a lot better as a weekly half-hour TV show.