She could come off preachy here but instead sounds blunt and honest. And that's more than enough.

If The Tailor of Panama doesn't quite gel, the attempt is still worth savoring.

Registers as a more scenic "Hoosiers" with rowdier fans.

It's impossible to watch this beautifully chaotic, excessive movie impassively. You'll either embrace what Luhrmann has done here or run out of the theater, holding your head.

It's the gentlest of tales in the grittiest of surroundings. Charles Lane's remarkable feature film debut, Sidewalk Stories, merges the sensibilities of Charles Chaplin and Spike Lee, fashioning a moving examination of homelessness from eloquent silence. [29 Dec 1989, p.5G]

A Soldier's Story insists that attention must be paid, and in so doing re-creates a dark and still fascinating picture of the American landscape -- geographical, social, spiritual. [05 Oct 1984, p.C1]

This is more of a thinking man's action flick -- a small, intense film made on a giant canvas that finds Mann experimenting with and pushing at the boundaries of mainstream filmmaking.

One of the chief pleasures of Paris, Je T'aime -- is seeing how each filmmaker adheres to their assignment of making a movie about love in Paris but still comes up with a distinctly personal work that bears their artistic sensibilities.

Jackson has become too distracted by his digital toys to give his characters the same weight and importance he used in the Rings trilogy.

Part of the reason The Amazing Spider-Man feels so fresh and invigorating is that its story is so simple - anyone remember exactly what the deal was with Loki and that cube? - and its protagonist so relatable.

The best moments in director David Koepp's slight, dull movie are the scenes in which bike messenger Wilee pauses at busy intersections to figure out the path of least obstruction.

By the time the film's climactic 15 minutes rolled around, viewers at a preview were laughing as if they were watching "Knocked Up." For a horror picture, such a reaction is the equivalent of a stake through the heart.

It's Zellweger's movie to win or lose, of course, and she succeeds without the slightest touch of Hollywood glamour.

The film's heart lies in what goes on at Calvin's shop, that haven from the cold, cruel world. Where else can you get philosophy, humor, friendship and a little off the top?

What's lacking is the simplicity that made the original.

Carries a whiff of disappointment: There's little here Mamet hasn't done before, and done better.

There are precious few moments in Elf when Ferrell doesn't manage to at least get a smile out of you. Considering how cloying the movie might have turned out without him, that's a huge gift all its own.

Its stop-and-start feel keeps you from ever getting fully absorbed in the story.

The cast brings its by-the-numbers characters alive.

The performances in Bandslam are uniformly strong -- good enough to make you wish this bunch of charismatic, talented kids had been given better material.

It's a gentle, occasionally smart little comedy about what happens when three furry spacemen, eager for female companionship after what seems to have been a long voyage from the planet Jhazzala, land in the backyard swimming pool of a recently jilted manicurist in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. [02 June 1989, p.DW5]

Big and fast and silly, but it's never dumb, and it's certainly never boring, either. The summer movie onslaught has begun on a high note.

Sommersby simply lacks momentum and sense. [05 Feb 1993, p.G5]

The whole point is excess, and O'Bannon's good at getting to that point. But the film is so clearly meant for giggles that it packs nowhere near the emotional punch of one of Romero's, which are truly dreadful. [19 Aug 1985, p.D5]

The lead roles are played by Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. They're the reasons this movie works. Despite itself. [11 Oct 1991, p.G5]

These are small subjects here, and intimate ones, and they are handled with great warmth. [27 May 1982, p.B5]

It's the kind of movie that parents and children ought to see together, then talk about afterward, though the lessons are ones that grown-ups need to master, as well. [18 Nov 1988, p.D1]

Impossible not to like.