The movie is happy and bright and thoroughly nice, and every now and then it's loud and funny and at least as large as life. And it could have been larger, and better. [22 Feb 1983, p.C5]

The plot lines all eventually fold into one another to form a well-rounded picture of a family struggling to gain a foothold in a foreign culture, though writer-director Miguel Arteta settles for a disappointingly conventional finale. Still, Star Maps has enough poetic grit and offbeat, unexpected humor to make Arteta a director worth watching. [22 Aug 1997, p.9G]

Turner's performance is intriguing -- now we know that she can play not only a sexpot (Body Heat) but a sexpot hiding in a career woman's suit-and-tie and posing as a fleshpot. This is pretty interesting. [19 Nov 1984, p.C1]

With a script full of flyaway one-liners by Buck Henry and some tightly edited visual stabs at media news by director Herbert Ross, Protocol is good for about an hour of fast-paced fun, until it starts mushing about looking for an ending. [22 Dec 1984, p.22]

It's a ridiculous story to be sure, filled with holes and not remotely plausible, but director Mark L. Lester knows enough to keep the speed up, and the dumb stuff is flattened by action. It's the kind of movie in which the audience waits happily for the little heroine to be cornered by villains, all to cheer at the inevitable roast. Lester, at least, is stylish enough to get away with it. [12 May 1984, p.C1]

Fried Green Tomatoes doesn't mean to be schizophrenic, really; it's a story within a story, and both are well-developed and wonderfully cast. It's just that the past is so much more captivating than the present that it makes you wish the memory movie could stand alone. [14 Jan 1992, p.C1]

14-year-old Noah Fleiss gives a performance that's every bit as astonishing as Haley Joel Osment's work in "The Sixth Sense."

Assayas has fundamental talent, and whatever its frivolities, Late August, Early September is lovely to look at and smacks of highbrow sensibilities. But the structure seems capricious and undernourished; the handheld camera a touch affected. It may very well be art, but in the end, not much of an impression is left. [01 Oct 1999, p.12G]

This is, after all, "Mary Poppins" turned on its head.

Steve Jobs, which by many accounts plays loose with the facts, is at its weakest when it tries to humanize its protagonist.

After you've seen Dave, go back and watch Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. And be manipulated by a master. [07 May 1993, p.G5]

The War Within is dark and somber, adjectives that describe both the film's look and its message.

The movie, while no big deal, makes for much more entertaining viewing than other highly touted vehicles currently fighting for your moviegoing dollars. [25 Apr 1994, p.C2]

At least the special effects in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen are remarkable: You never tire of the endless variations of robots Bay and his computer-generated effects crew come up with.

The Cable Guy might not please fans looking only for Carrey's usual shtick, but from here, it looks like a step toward adulthood. [14 June 1996, p.5G]

Oddly entertaining ride.

As absorbing as much of it is, Unbreakable winds up as a mild disappointment. But it leaves no question the hype around Shyamalan is well-deserved: This guy has a huge career ahead of him.

Adults expecting intellectual stimulation better skip this one. Not that the Philippe Muyl film is devoid of charm; it oozes it. The story is as predictable as a hot summer in South Florida.

The Deep Blue Sea is a suffocating movie, and it's meant to be.

The movie, elegantly shot by Rodrigo Prieto, is sleek and brisk, using split-screens and graphics to help uninformed viewers grasp the basics of the corporate shenanigans the characters pull on each other.

A perfectly adequate horror romp, but it's hard to imagine anyone remembering it five years from now.

Melding multiple genres, the movie is certainly funny, but the admirable, reckless energy that makes it worthwhile for much of the running time eventually peters out.

Enjoyably preposterous, old-guys-are-cool-too plot.

Ward does manage to pump the film with tension in the climactic, will-the-Indians-beat-the-Yankees sequence, and I found Major League hard to resist in its last 20 minutes or so -- even though it's sappy enough to make Levinson's prettifying of The Natural seem positively dour by contrast. Maybe it's just the season. [7 Apr 1989, p.1]

Funny Farm adds up to enjoyable but uneven summer entertainment that seconds the Green Acres credo: "Farm livin' is the life for me." [3 June 1988, p.D5]

We Were Soldiers feels strangely irrelevant -- a well-acted, well-crafted and inconsequential visit to woefully familiar territory.

Won't make you forget Kidman's better work, but it's not a film you long to excise from your memory.

Despite moments of ludicrous contrivance, the script offers an often-engrossing study of a lone wolf ensnared by both good and evil. It gives Fishburne (Boys N the Hood) the chance to bring his thoughtful presence to a leading role. And it gives Duke a chance to display his burgeoning skill. [16 Apr 1992, p.F5]